Before very long, we're likely to all find ourselves wrapped in the furore of Christmas. With the new year fast approaching (but the craziness of the festive season yet to manifest), now feels like an appropriate time to take stock of the music that's shaped our 2024.
Over the coming weeks, our staff writers and contributors will shed light on their favourite albums from the last twelve months. First, Jo reviews the debut LP from Carlita which landed on Ninja Tune earlier this month.
Artist: Carlita
Title: Sentimental
Label: Ninja Tune
Released: 15 November
Sounds like: A personal invitation to roam the inner world and musical mastery of Carlita
Carlita
From Circoloco to Burning Man and Coachella, Carlita's journeying DJ sets have platformed her as one of electronic music’s most prominent arrivals in recent years. Her multi-sensory party concept, Senza Fine, which was recently hosted during New York Fashion Week, labels her a visionary.
However, Carlita's club-orientated sound is only one shade of her artistic arsenal.
A testament to her nomadic ear as a classically trained pianist, cellist, bassist, drummer, guitarist, DJ and producer, Carlita's debut album Sentimental is the sum of all her parts. .
Like intimate diary entries, each of the 12 tracks tells of a different chapter in Carlita’s journey so far. As well as her vast absorption of influences over the years. From her Turskish-Italian heritage to lived and unfiltered life experiences that have shaped her as an artist.
Along for the ride is a rich pool of collaborators and friends, including DJ Tennis, SG Lewis, Elderbrook, Orofino and Cleo Simone. Each plays their role in the story about to unfold.
Sentimental
As one of Carlita's biggest supporters from the start, it's only fitting that the opening track goes hand-in-hand with mentor and manager DJ Tennis. Trouble Symphony is a vibrant and rhythmic number embellished with effervescent pops of Turkish Psychedelic Rock, through flirtatious guitar flicks and fleeting sounds of nature.
You can’t help but daydream of hot tropics. Think sippin' poolside at Pikes Hotel, Ibiza.
Planet Blue, with vocalist Cleo Simone, glimmers with playful Pop energy. Carlita's penchant for rich piano chords adds a vibrant and irresistible contemporary groove.
Letting us in on her early sound, Carlita shares The Moment. A happy accident led to the rediscovery of the first track she created back in 2015. Reworking her milestone production, featuring freshly laid vocals from in-demand UK producer SG Lewis. Smooth number The Moment now takes its rightful place on the Sentimental tracklist.
Four tracks in and Carlita seamlessly switches up the vibe with TV Disco, where her intention to exceed expectations is heard loud and clear. The sensual chemistry between the rhythmic bass guitar and bongo drums leaves the listener blushing as the driving Disco House beat swoons over the dancefloor.
One of the album's most radiant and impressionable tracks, Wish You Knew, follows. A poster child for slick-cut vocal Melodic House, Wish You Knew captivates with pensive one-liner lyrics, dark and Progressive nuance and a sultry swagger that holds your finger firmly over the repeat button.
Another seminal timestamp comes in the final minutes of Sentimental to the tune of Time. A four-minute euphoria-inducing Melodic House trip which has garnered pure fan adornment as Carlita's closing selection for many of her DJ sets this summer.
Playing us out to the dainty notes of Little Things with Julietta, it's near impossible to have reached this final point without a deepened sense of appreciation for Carlita as an artist.
In today's modern music industry where major record labels churn out staggering volumes of new singles on a weekly basis, the art of storytelling through a deeply crafted and connected body of music feels rare.
To leave the final words to anyone but Carlita would be unjust. Proving her prowess as a limitless music producer on Sentimental, if the story so far is anything to go by, I can't wait to see what she has in store next.
Highlights: Trouble Symphony, The Moment, Wish You Knew, Time
Sentimental is out now and available to stream and purchase on all reputable platforms.
PHOTOGRAPHY | by Louis Browne & Louis Nesbitt
