The Pinker Tones

Barcelona-based duo the Pinker Tones carve out a distinctive and satisfying route within the Spanish indie pop landscape, which often leans toward either retro power pop or the coy charm associated with Belle & Sebastian. Their predominantly electronic approach fuses direct bubblegum melodies, dance-driven grooves, and an eclectic borrowing from every period and genre of pop history. Salvador Rey, who handles vocals, guitar, keyboards, and flute, first crossed paths with Alex Llovet, responsible for keyboards, samples, and drums, while both attended university in the late '90s. The pair established the Pinker Tones in 2001 after Rey received an assignment to score a television documentary and enlisted his neighbor Llovet to utilize the latter’s home studio. Pleased with the results, they persisted under the Pinker Tones banner and assumed the personas Mister Furia for Rey and Professor Manso for Llovet, reflecting a broader vision that weaves humor and multilingual optimism throughout their work. After issuing two early singles, they unveiled their first full-length effort, The BCN Connection, in 2003. While sustaining active side projects that include production, remixing for fellow artists, and scoring music for screen projects, the duo spent two years crafting their follow-up, The Million Colour Revolution, which appeared globally in early 2006. Gradual word-of-mouth interest, fueled by their hybrid live performances that alternate between band and DJ formats along with a run of playful videos, prompted the Canadian imprint Nettwerk Records to acquire their independent Pinkerland Records label for distribution across North America. The initial release under this arrangement was the 2007 summer remix collection More Colours!, which incorporated contributions from Kraftwerk’s Wolfgang Flür and second-generation Brazilian musician Moreno Veloso.