Rita Indiana is an artist who has gained a lot of attention for her unique blend of afrocaribbean styles like Merengue infused techno pop; she has effectively created a way to take the traditional Caribbean forms of music that she grew up with in the Dominican Republic  with the danceability of modern western pop. She achieves this in a musical manner not far off from M.I.A. or Santigold, but with a lyrical storytelling ability that the others don’t bring to the table. This is primarily because Rita found notoriety before her musical endeavors from her two published novels, which feature clever, narrative prose that flows in a Dominican slang dialect. Match that with some outrageous outfits, witty subject matter, and dance-able electronics and you’ve got yourself a unique formula for something special. On her new album El Juidero, Rita Indiana y Los Misterios present just that: a whimsical fusion of Dominican and other rhythms with techno and rock.

Rita was born and raised in Santo Domino, though she spent her time on US soil during frequent visits to her father at his American business. She would study Art History at Universidad Autononoma, but abandon it in favor of the School of Design of Altos de Chavon. Subsequently, she penned two fictions: “Estrategia de Chochueca” (2000), which tells the story of a group of kids who steal a sound system at a rave (perhaps a precursor to her integration of electronic dance into Caribbean forms), and “Papi” (2004), where the pain and glory of a messianic New York Dominican street guy is seen through the eyes of his eight year old daughter. Both novels were critically acclaimed and have been used in literature courses in worldwide universities such as Harvard and NYU.

Her first musical endeavor came after brief stints in performance art, nannying, and PR: in 2008 Rita produced the record Altar Epandex in duo with Miti Miti. The resultant production was a rustic mix of electronics, merengue and gagá, and was declared by New York City’s Daily News one of the top 5 indie jewels of 2008. Following the record’s success, she returned to the Dominican Republic, where she formed the band Rita Indiana y Los Misterios to record and perform a new batch of songs she had written. The result is a synthesis of her life interests – conceptual art, popular music and the magical, mystical Afrocaribbean rhythms and traditions. Their releases thus far have been a viral hit on Youtube and Facebook, causing the name Rita Indiana to achieve nationwide recognition in the Dominican Republic and for Rita to attract the attention of the auspicious Dominican Label, Premium Latin Music, who host bachata powerhouse Aventura.

El Juideo is Rita Indiana y Los Mysterios’s debut release on Premium Latin, and it delivers her blend of Caribbean music and dance-pop, now perfected. Critics are already singing praises, with NPR Music naming Rita “one of our favorite rising stars,” and Ameoba Music’s Amoeblog hailing the record’s progressive fusion: “What makes this album interesting is that Rita’s take is the reversal of the Anglos. She is a resident to Caribbean music and not a visitor, yet she gets the arty side of what the English were trying to do. Whether it’s the Merengue-Techno fusion of “Como Un Landron En La Noche” and “La Hora De Volve” or the Dub meets Bachata of “Paseme A Buca,” it’s the fusion of thoughts and cultures that continues to keep music interesting around the world.”

Check out El Juidero to hear the future of Merengue; it will be what everyone’s dancing to in no time flat. Here’s a free promotrack of the album’s title track:

Rita Indiana & Los Misterios
“El juidero” (mp3)
from “El Juidero”
(Premium Latin Music)

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