The duo Migrant Motel is an alt-pop unit marrying the talents of drummer and Mexican native Chava Ilizaliturri with Peruvian/American bassist and vocalist David Stewart Jr. into an unique pairing. The tandem first connected during their college years in the Boston area and soon established an ever-growing fanbase throughout Latin America, Mexico, and the United States.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/migrantmotel/
LISTENING LINK: https://fanlink.to/mmparty
They’ve since set their sights on expanding their audience in the U.S. and to that end relocated to the Los Angeles area in 2020. They’ve just played 3 sold out shows in LA at Bardot, The Mint, and Hotel Café. They’ve been building steadily with additional shows at high profile Los Angeles venues including The Troubadour, The Roxy, and The Viper Room; with another notable high point is a headlining appearance on the BMI stage at Chicago’s recent iteration of the Lollapalooza Festival. They are expanding their reach on their terms alone.
Their new single “Party” shows us why. Instead of penning an empty-headed party anthem, as the song title may imply, Migrant Motel goes deeper. The song is about someone who doesn’t want to attend a party that night because he knows the girl he’s been crushing on will likely be there, possibly with somebody new. Migrant Motel fills the lyrics with specific details, but they possess universal resonance. Nearly everyone has experienced a situation like this or similar. The writing style is conversational without ever playing down the importance of the moment or striking a crass note.
The duo builds the arrangement around a staccato guitar line, drums, and keyboards. Migrant Motel, despite the spartan instrumentation, uses a strong sense of dynamics that helps the song gain a foothold in the listener’s consciousness. It’s a relatively brief song, as well, less than three minutes in length, but they deserve kudos for capturing the entirety of that experience in a short amount of time. Vocalist David Stewart Jr. is the unquestionable star of this particular performance as his voice combines equal parts nuance during the verses as well as ample power and soul.
His power comes across strongest during the song’s chorus. There’s no doubting him when he cries out, “I don’t wanna go to the party…” and Migrant Motel is right to focus on his singing during those moments. The promotional clip accompanying the song does the same. Migrant Motel keeps things relatively simple and straightforward for the track’s video with its single extended shot of a group of people in a home while Stewart sings. This long single take keeps moving for the bulk of the video and helps it stand out from other clips we’ve seen.
FANLINK: https://fanlink.to/MigrantMotelParty
The dark lustrous color of the scene is another aspect of the video viewers will find attractive. The cinematography, courtesy of Victor Inglés, gives the clip a distinct visual signature that viewers won’t soon forget. Migrant Motel do themselves justice marrying this excellent cut with such compelling visual material. It’s a memorable single that solidifies their burgeoning status as one of the most tantalizing young acts working today and it isn’t any stretch to assume we’ll be hearing and seeing work every bit as skilled from them in the future.
Chadwick Easton