Biography
Brooklyn-based quartet Combo Chimbita refined their approach across extended rehearsals that fused exuberant guacharaca rhythms with expansive psychedelic textures. Carolina Oliveros’s increasingly prominent vocals helped shape the enigmatic mood that defines the band’s 2017 debut album Abya Yala as well as the spiritually charged and emotionally raw IRE, issued in 2022.
The four musicians first coalesced in Brooklyn after years of informal collaboration, gradually weaving experimental elements into their shared Colombian heritage. Niño Lento handled guitar, Prince of Queens played bass, Dilemastronauta sat behind the drums, and Carolina Oliveros sang while also operating the guacharaca. Regular residencies at Barbès in Park Slope allowed the group to stretch traditional Colombian forms into extended psychedelic explorations that incorporated drifting synth layers.
Following a 2014 split 7" alongside Greenwood Rhythm Coalition and the 2016 four-song EP El Corredor del Jaguar, the band captured their debut full-length Abya Yala during a concentrated three-day session built around lengthy trance-state improvisations. Their second album, Ahomale, appeared on Anti- Records in 2019; drawing on Colombian folklore and myth, it yielded the single “Revelación (Candela)” amid its atmospheric, often ominous compositions. IRE, released in January 2022, turned toward spirituality, catharsis, and political struggle, with every track delivered in Spanish and confronting racist power structures alongside totalitarian forces. On this release Combo Chimbita advanced both their sonic palette and emotional depth.
The four musicians first coalesced in Brooklyn after years of informal collaboration, gradually weaving experimental elements into their shared Colombian heritage. Niño Lento handled guitar, Prince of Queens played bass, Dilemastronauta sat behind the drums, and Carolina Oliveros sang while also operating the guacharaca. Regular residencies at Barbès in Park Slope allowed the group to stretch traditional Colombian forms into extended psychedelic explorations that incorporated drifting synth layers.
Following a 2014 split 7" alongside Greenwood Rhythm Coalition and the 2016 four-song EP El Corredor del Jaguar, the band captured their debut full-length Abya Yala during a concentrated three-day session built around lengthy trance-state improvisations. Their second album, Ahomale, appeared on Anti- Records in 2019; drawing on Colombian folklore and myth, it yielded the single “Revelación (Candela)” amid its atmospheric, often ominous compositions. IRE, released in January 2022, turned toward spirituality, catharsis, and political struggle, with every track delivered in Spanish and confronting racist power structures alongside totalitarian forces. On this release Combo Chimbita advanced both their sonic palette and emotional depth.
Albums
Singles
