I found Marina Fages’ music on Bandcamp in 2015, first falling in love with the quirky grunge riffs and moving arrangements on that year’s Dibujo de Rayo, then working back to obsess over the finger-picked folk versatility on 2012’s Madera Metal. I was lucky enough to meet her on a trip to Buenos Aires in 2016 at a DIY show space, and got to check out the very cool record shop she also runs, Mercurio Disquería. Marina’s also well known for her murals—intricate, mystical, and bright. Understandably, she’s a star in Argentina, and also tours frequently in Japan and Europe. But she’s less well known here in the US, despite me blasting her music any time I am handed the aux (including the metaphorical aux Joyful Noise has handed me)—and despite making one of the best albums of the 2010s.   

That best album is called Épica y Fantástica, and it delivers on both its title's adjectival promises. Marina’s chord progressions and melodies retain their hurts-so-good knotty complexity, while her always-evocative pop vocals are even more sprightly and electrifying (as are her death growls! Which are on here too! The talent!). Layers of detailed, bubbling synthesis bring her further into technicolor territory than previous records—even on the deliciously dark slow jams—but the songwriting and sonic exploration retain a characteristic urgency. At times Marina reminds me of that dog., elsewhere The Go Gos, and she even evokes my favorite moments in Grimes’s catalog —basically, this is some good stuff from an expert in her field! Please, help me on my mission of making Marina Fages a household name by playing this record for anyone who will listen. They’ll be in for a treat. 

-Sadie Dupuis