Exploded View

Exploded View fuses post-punk, dub, and Krautrock into propulsive motion, extending the sonic approaches of its participants—chief among them vocalist and keyboardist Annika Henderson’s solo output—yet forging a distinct character through its fluid, associative grooves. The group crystallized its oneiric yet emotionally direct approach on the self-titled debut of 2016 before sharpening both its studio methods and its capacity to merge political and personal themes within hallucinatory frameworks on the 2018 album Obey.

The project’s origins lie in 2014, when Berlin-resident Henderson gave her first performance in Mexico and assembled drummer and guitarist Martin Thulin, bassist and synth player Hugo Quezada, and synth player and guitarist Hector Melgarejo to support her. Swedish-born Thulin also fronts the group Los Fancy Free and has produced acts such as Crocodiles; Quezada performs with Robota, while Melgarejo’s prior collaborators include Jessy Bulbo and Nos Llamamos. Once shared artistic aims emerged, the musicians began capturing fresh material composed during Mexico City rehearsals in late 2015, laying down initial tracks on a Tascam 388 eight-track.

The band’s opening single, “No More Parties in the Attic,” surfaced in early 2016 on Sacred Bones, which issued the self-titled debut album that August. Roughly a year afterward the label put out the Summer Came Early EP, gathering new pieces and unreleased recordings that highlighted the ensemble’s psychedelic leanings. By the time of the follow-up album Obey, Exploded View had reduced to the trio of Henderson, Thulin, and Quezada. The record’s more measured and polished aesthetic reached listeners in September 2018.