Amina Cyu is a music project by Paulina Lasa, who hails from Mexico City. Her music is inspired by moths, guitar sounds, and guitar pedal effects. She has released various EPs, including Black Garden (Static Discos, 2020) and Más Humilde (Antimateria Sonora, 2021), along with other tracks on her Bandcamp page. Her new album, The 39 Steps, features ambient music that is both sensibly abrasive and ethereal. She is influenced by the early days of industrial music, but she transforms the harsh sounds into auditory embraces that provide a sense of well-being.
The music on her first full-length album is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock‘s film, “The 39 Steps,” a work of fiction that portrays protagonists who are unjustly framed. The film is a suspenseful portrayal of how personal and political issues can become scandalously intertwined. However, almost a century has passed since the film’s premiere, and the popularization of the internet has subverted the concepts of privacy and espionage, easy access to information, and social media. The experiences of false accusations and persecution have also taken on different social and psychological dimensions. Despite these changes, the sentiment expressed by the persecuted man in “The 39 Steps” remains valid, especially in an emblematic scene of the film:
“I’ve known what it is to feel lonely and helpless
And to have the whole world against me
And those are things than no man or woman ought to feel
And I ask your candidate
And all those who love their fellow men
To set themselves resolutely
To make this world a happier place to live in
A world where no nation plots against nation
Where no neighbor plots against neighbor
Where there is no persecution or hunting down
Where everybody gets a square deal and a sporting chance
And where people try to help and not to hinder
A world form which suspicion and cruelty and fear
Have been forever banished”
Production: Amina Cyu, Mixing and mastering: Emilio Acevedo, Cover art: Æ, Graphic Design: Denisse Mancera.
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