Santa Esperanza At Juno Download

Review: After a brace of EPs on Eskimo earlier this year, Ilya Santana serves up some new material on his own fledgling Santa Esperanza imprint. It's only the label's third release - and the first from Santana himself - so it should be of little surprise to learn that he's saved some particularly sultry disco nuggets for the occasion. "Dance Beyond" opens proceedings with glistening arpeggios and spaced out synths, before "Hymn Stelar" and "Fantasy" round off yet another shimmering musical excursion from the Cayman Islands disco ambassador.

Review: For the eighth release on his Santa Esperanza imprint, Ilya Santana hands over the reigns to newcomer Mario Viera. He delivers an EP of lucid, tactile nu-disco that variously treads ground previously covered by the likes of Sare Havlicek, Peter Visti and, of course, Santana himself. It actually reminds us of vintage Eskimo releases from the mid noughties and early fare on Permanent Vacation, perhaps with a dash of Daniel Wang in his more spacey phase. Think drifting melodies, nu-Balearic builds, twinkling synths and chugging arpeggios (see closer "Cosmic Matter"). All three cuts are highly desirable, but it's the Maxmillion Dunbar-ish title track that most impresses.