Album: LaXula

In X-ile (KAPA Productions)

If, like me, you've longed for a contemporary Spanish band to have at least a smidgen of the dark Spanish soul evoked by the likes of Goya or Guernica-period Picasso, then LaXula are for you. Singer Monte's lyrics have the naked power of private love letters or desperately scribbled diary entries. The music evokes the passionate spirit of flamenco but tempered by a dark undertow of gothic rock adding depth and understated menace. Think of a cross between Ojos de Brujo and early PiL and that'll give you some idea of their sometimes brooding, sometimes obliquely welcoming universe.

Download this The spookily seductive 'Semiya'