Mercurio, Hernan Cattaneo 'Bay Drive' on Balance Music

'Bay Drive' marks the first release on Balance Music for Mercurio and Hernan Cattaneo since Cattaneo's Balance presents The Soundgarden compilation landed in October 2019. That's a gap of roughly five years, and it arrives on 11 July via Balance Music.

In its audio, the percussion keeps a steady pulse, no filler; but it's the harmony that really carries the momentum through the arrangement, unfolding slowly and deliberately. The drums do their job without ever stealing the spotlight. The mix remains loud, with peaks held in check. A bright, polished top end keeps everything open and airy through the duration, and that harmonic backbone keeps pulling forward so the record can't help but move.

It's a rare enough event when two names of this calibre line up on the same label for the first time in half a decade. 'Bay Drive' does exactly what it should do: it gets out of the way of the harmony and lets the progression speak for itself.