“fresh, exciting music” - Remezcla [US] 

Ciudad is the debut album by Mexican producer, composer and keyboard player Nnux (Ana López Reyes). On a work dedicated to Mexico City and the feeling of nostalgia, Nnux blends together synthesizers, beats, processed voice samples, ethereal vocals and Mexican folk elements into compositions influenced by experimental music, electronic music and pop. As writer Elena Badillo puts it, [Nnux] “envisions -and achieves- a remarkably coherent sonic journey to introspection, to urban abandon and nostalgia, to self-deconstruction (and self-reconstruction), to transcending loss, to holding on to the feeling while letting let go of the pain, and, ultimately, to embrace our vulnerable yet resilient inner worlds.” 

Ciudad was written and produced by Nnux during the last months of 2018 and early 2019, while she was living in New York City, feeling a permanent nostalgia for her hometown Mexico City and dealing with the absence of a loved one after a loss. 

The album follows a narrative that starts with the first track ‘Piezas’, an explosive song where she describes the sensation of feeling broken inside. After that, every song is dedicated to either a memory from the city or to feelings of nostalgia attached to those memories. The second and last tracks “Parte 1: Y tu ausencia no es la muerte” and “Parte 2: No se morirá el quererte”, are built solely using samples of her own voice singing Grupo Mono Blanco’s version of Mexican folk song “Los Chiles Verdes”, which traditionally is about dealing with the absence of a loved one. “Calles”, the third song, is a description of how Mexico City was built by creating a city on top of an already-existing city, imposing a culture above another.“Ciudad”, the track that gives the name to the album, is about the earthquake that hit Mexico City in 2017, killing hundreds, and describes the feeling of helplessness of being away while your own hometown is falling to the ground. “Salida” is a violent instrumental electronic track that expresses a feeling of despair.  “Y aún así” is a song dedicated to women in Mexico City, who despite of all the violence against women in the city are brave enough to keep on going with their lives and don’t stop doing what they love.

Nnux is the solo project of Ana López Reyes, who is based in Mexico City. Her music is heavily based on the digital processing of sound samples from field recordings, voices and acoustic instruments, as well as beatmaking and the use of synthesizers. Influenced by experimental music, electronic music, pop and traditional music from Mexico, she creates music that aims to be emotional and vulnerable while still being experimental and imaginative. 
Nnux’s Ciudad is available March 20th, 2020 via Mexico City-based label VAA.