The psychedelic romance laced within the work of Roberto Carlos Lange – better known as Helado Negro – is palpable in Far In. The kaleidoscope of colours present in the video for astrologically-minded neo-disco single Gemini & Leo is a visual representation of the varying moods on this record: though there’s a strong sense of joy running throughout (you only have to look as far as light-hearted electro-pop jam Outside the Outside), it’s also tempered with moments of deep introspection, as Lange considers his purpose in our broken world. 

Lange’s voice is gravelly and honest, characteristics he has made his trademark since 2019’s deeply moving This is How You Smile. On string-laden alternative pop romp La Naranja, Spanish for ‘the orange’ (an aphorism for one’s other half), Lange sings, “Sé que solo tu y yo/ Podemos salvar el mundo”, translating to ‘I know that only you and I can save the world’. 

This message, that love is the ultimate salvation, echoes throughout the album. And as life freewheels further into uncertainty, music that gives us a tinge of optimism is necessary to our survival, as is the love Lange sings about. Far In is just another reminder that, to quote the languidly sweet Purple Tones, “hope is up ahead”.

E.R. Pulgar