Editor's Pick: Best of 2011
PENYA's debut EP reflects a rare breadth of musical vision informed by years of experience in a multitude of different genres that include Latin American, film music, folk, classical and rock. Each member of the band brings live, acoustic performances of real musicianship to illuminate the journey that PENYA takes the listener on. The vocals in PENYA'€™s colourful and vibey travelogue come in the form of ANGELICA LOPEZ. Hailing from Cartagena, on Colombia'€™s caribbean coast, Angelica brings a unique combination of the ethereal with the earthy - think Kate Bush meets Celia Cruz.

Kicking off the release with AQUI, a blistering slam dunk original with a contemporary Cuban swagger, Angelica throws down PENYA'€™s calling card. The band then neatly side steps over to the great American songbook for an atmospheric and grooving rendition of Romberg & Hammerstein'€™s SOFTLY AS IN A MORNING SUNRISE. In ERES INDESCRIPTIBLE, Sonia Slaney'€™s lush violin frames a soft, lyrical bombshell in the form of Angelica'€™s self-penned ode to obsessive love. Beyonce'€™s ballad BROKENHEARTED GIRL provides another vehicle for PENYA'€™s transforming zeal. The somber mood of the original is morphed into a feisty reggaeton/salsa infusion with middle-eastern percussion, granting Angelica license to ramp up the emotional charge.