Tiburones, Eva (Pink Smoke)

The worldly indie-folk collaboration isn't a departure for either member, but it does pool their strengths.

[INDIE FOLK] "This is my wandering," Luz Elena Mendoza sings on the debut album from her collaboration with Shaky Hands' Nick Delffs. In truth, she hasn't drifted too far from home: If "Worldly Indie Folk" got its own record-store placard, Eva would slot comfortably alongside the albums she has released with Y La Bamba. Tiburones isn't exactly a departure for either member, but it does pool their strengths. Mendoza's eerily tremulous voice is an ideal match for the spare jangle Delffs brought to his Death Songs project, lending emotional weight to songs that, while embellished by woodwinds, vibes and occasional synth buzz, are built from little more than guitar and drums seemingly stripped of everything but toms. "Wandering" has a twinkling Beach House vibe, albeit with more organic warmth, while the percussion-driven title track evokes Graceland if Paul Simon had spent the summer before going into the studio backpacking through South America. Throughout the album, Delffs mostly takes a background role, helping with harmonies and stepping to the mic by himself only on the pretty acoustic closer, "Learning to Fade," which turns into the album's one true duet. With Y La Bamba plotting a return, it's unclear how long it will be before their voices intermingle on record again, but if they ever feel like wandering off together in the future, it's hard to imagine fans of either would be upset about it.

SEE IT: Tiburones plays Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Death Songs and Clarke and the Himselfs, on Wednesday, Nov. 11. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

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