San Fermin are at the shifting center of a revival of orchestral-centered pop music in Brooklyn and we couldn’t be happier. The group is a creation of Yale-trained composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone, and their debut single “Sonsick” is still one of the most exciting and innovative songs out this year. San Fermin’s newest track “Daedalus (What We Have)” continues in a similar vein, incorporating brass, keyboard, synths, intense harmonies and plinking, electronic effects and evenly spacing them against open, often dark lyrical admissions.
The switch off between male and female vocals—Allen Tate and the powerhouse harmonies of Jess Wolfe & Holly Laessig of Lucius—along with a sense of balance between compositional sensibilities and pop appeal makes this band one of those that has something for everyone. Its got the magnificence of a towering ballad but with the skeleton of a pop song and the muscle-memory of a piece of classical music.
To be perfectly honest, the songs are so ornate that the transition into live performance is still a little clunky, but the strides this group are taking are huge. Stream their latest addition below and look for their debut album San Fermin out on Downtown Records on September 17.
