Verde Prato - Jaikiera

Hegoa Diskak's journey into Basque musical heritage takes another turn with these two offerings of Purgatorial Pop from Ana Arsuaga aka Verde Prato. It appears Arsuaga has been making a few waves since the release of her debut album in 2021, touring Spain and appearing at some of its more prominent festivals, though i'll admit that record passed me by. If it's anything like Jaikiera, it's surely destined for a wider audience. I can't speak for where this fits into Basque culture, but Arsuaga seems to be miming similar territory to that explored by her contemporaires over in Australia - think something like the midpoint between Carla Dal Forno, Troth and Jonnine. This is dreamzoned synthpop of the ethereal kind, led by Arsuaga's high registered vocal in her native tongue, something that happens to lend the music a particularly haunting quality. Both winners, though i'm especially taken with the B side, five-minutes of lunar ebullience driven by some Virginia Astley vocal theatrics. Highly limited as per usual Hegoa Diskak practice.