This collaboration between American indie folk anomaly
Josephine Foster, her husband, Spanish guitarist
Victor Herrero, and
Victor's brother
Jose Luis made its first appearance on an obscure Swiss compilation called
Your Victorian Breasts back in 2013. With additional help from Spanish folksinger
Lorena Alvarez and Japanese woodwind player
Taku, the group, billed as
Mendrugo, offered a curiously rough field recording of a winsome Spanish-language tune called "Estrella Fugaz" that seems to have been captured inside a noisy cafe. Though quaint and charming, it gave the impression of something ephemeral: a casual one-off from a group of friends who had happened to land in the same time and place for a moment. Sure enough, little else was heard from
Mendrugo over the next few years as the various parties continued to focus on their primary projects. In the summer of 2016, however, U.K. indie
Fire Records announced the release of
More Amor, a full-length debut from the erstwhile folk troupe. Similar to their debut track -- which appears again here in a slightly more structured form -- the LP feels casual, loose, and buoyant, with a distinctly vintage lo-fi production aesthetic that still resembles a field recording. The vocals are largely shared between
the Herreros and
Foster, whose idiosyncratic warbles somehow come across as less affected when delivered in Spanish. The guitars are delicately plucked or jauntily strummed in the manner of Spanish and other Latin-flavored folk traditions and the group harmonies are rich and spirited, with occasional whoops and celebratory calls. There is little of
Foster's early American folk and jazz style here and
More Amor, for all of its eccentricities, feels more like some unearthed world music relic than the work of 21st century indie folk heroes. Whether this is simply a one-off project or the beginning of an ongoing venture,
Mendrugo's debut is a bright and charming curiosity. ~ Timothy Monger
![Very Best of Gipsy Kings [Sony]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5099752021727_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Very Best of Gipsy Kings [Sony]")
