Author: Kate Crudgington

Dense beats and jagged electronics combine on ‘Four Women and Darkness’, the latest single from Mexico based musician J. Zunz (aka Lorena Quintanilla). Lifted from her second album Hibiscus, the track is a haunting, minimalist interpretation of an unnerving story Quintanilla was told by her grandmother and is accompanied by a visual piece that aims to reflect the jarring nature of the tale.

“[My grandmother] told me that once during wartime in México in the late 1920’s, she and her sisters were hidden by her grandmother in a little, cold secret room,” Quintanilla explains. “She hid them there because the militia wanted to search the house. Soldiers used to look for women or girls to rape them or to kidnap them. My grandmother and her sisters stayed there in the dark room for hours until the soldiers left.”

‘Four Women and Darkness’ is Quintanilla’s addition to her grandmother’s frightening narrative, and the video for the track explores the ambiguous theme of darkness further. “I asked four close friends of mine to express their own darkness,” Quintanilla comments. “They all come from different cities and backgrounds. I instructed them with some movements remarking and reassuring the limits of our bodies, which for years have belonged to everyone but us.”

Watch the video for ‘Four Women and Darkness’ below and follow J. Zunz on bandcamp for more updates.

Photo Credit: Sofía Ruesga

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut