San Diego musician Jackie Mendoza shared a glimmering bilingual ballad called “De Lejos” last month. Today, she’s following that up with an equally entrancing track called “Seahorse” and announcing her debut EP, LuvHz. Genius play on words there.

“Seahorse” opens with a bubbling sensation, but the overflowing effervescence soon gets swept up into a sparkly synth that transports you to a most luscious soundscape. A softened 808-like beat grounds the track, while twinkling keys drip and fall around her vocals organically. Some of the lyrics even get lost in the crosswinds of heavily delayed echoes, but that doesn’t detract from the song at all. In fact, it only strengthens the environment and world she’s painting.

This sonic ode to underwater life was intentional, according to Mendoza. Here she is with more details on the track’s inspiration:

Seahorse was directly inspired by seahorses. They mate for life and take on equal responsibilities in the relationship; females “plant” the egg inside the male’s pouch and the male gives birth to thousands of seahorse babies while the female looks for food and shelter. The sound of the song was also inspired by the way they swim and move; sporadic and free-flowing.

Below, watch the “Seahorse” video, directed by Glitchybb.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Mucho Más”
02 “What I Need”
03 “Seahorse”
04 “Loco Flow”
05 “Your Attention”
06 “Puppet Angels”

TOUR DATES:
03/12-17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
04/26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Park Church Co-op (Record release show)

LuvHz is out 4/26 on Luminelle Recordings. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Tayo Oyekan