Apartamentos Acapulco, 26 October 2024

Apartamentos Acapulco is one of the most promising bands in the Spanish independent scene because of its dream pop and shoegaze sound, full of nostalgia and melancholy. Hailing from Granada, the Andalusian city which has spawned innumerable groups of musicians, the band has gained a foothold in the music world thanks to their ability to meld envolvente atmospheres, distorted guitars, and intimate lyrics. Since its formation in 2015, Acapulco Apartments have released several albums that have seen very positive criticism, establishing themselves as a benchmark among alternative genres in Spain.
In this article we will discuss the band's beginnings, discography and how they have managed to stay true to their origins while continually evolving their music.

Beginnings of the Band

Acapulco Apartments was born in 2015 out of the concerns of two musicians, Ismael Cámara and Angelina Herrera, into independent music with enveloping sounds. From the very birth of this band, it felt a strong attraction for dream pop and shoegaze genres, drawing its influence from iconic groups such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Yo La Tengo. Their music blends layers of distorted guitars and ethereal vocals with a nostalgic aesthetic that evokes both sadness and beauty.
Their first EP, “Justo y Necesario” (2016), was a calling card that showcased the band's ability to create hypnotic melodies with a lo-fi approach. Songs like "Scarlett" and "Awakening" did manage to catch the attention of indie listeners in Spain, setting some sort of platform for what would later be their style. The combination of dense guitars with soft and almost whispered voices allowed them to be outstanding on the local scene of Granada, a town with great musical tradition.

Debut with "Nuevos Testamentos"

In 2017, Acapulco Apartments released their very first long-playing record: "Nuevos Testamentos", a disc that consolidated its sound and catapulted it to a greater audience. This album continues in the dream pop vein with elements of shoegaze, having much more polished and ambitious production compared to their earlier work. The lyrics, at times so full of deep introspection, sometimes dealing with love gone sour, spoke to listeners who were looking for something emotional in music.
Songs like "Juan Sin Miedo" and "Camino de Ronda" immediately became hits due to their soft melodies and cuddly atmospheres. In "Nuevos Testamentos", the band also started to address more personal issues in their lyrics, remembering old relationships and feelings of defeat. This emotive approach, blended with their ability to create thick, dreamy soundscapes, helped to solidify their place in the Spanish indie scene.

Experimentation and Growth with "El Resto del Mundo"

In 2018, Apartamentos Acapulco released "El Resto del Mundo", an album that showed more maturity and a will to experiment outside the confines of traditional dream pop. While the ethereal textures and enveloping guitars were still part of the core of their sound, the record introduced new influences and a great variety of musical arrangements. The band began to effectively introduce elements of post-rock and electronic music into their sound, which made for a far more complex and expansive proposition.
The themes of "La Mujer y el Monstruo" and "Canción de Angelina" stood out with a lot of intricate instrumental layers and emotive dynamics. En las letras están siendo poéticas y, a menudo abstractas, siguen en la exploración de la soledad y la introspección, invariables en sus obras. The remaining songs triumphed in launching the listener into an emotional dream state, while the more involved compositions proved the group had no fear in evolving their sound.

"De repente" and international consolidation

Then, in 2020, there was the release of Acapulco's third album, "De repente", which was a sure way not only to solidify its place within the Spanish indie scene but also brought notoriety from several other international markets. Recorded within the framework of personal and professional changes for the members of the band, it is able to take a more reflective and melancholic tone in comparison to previous works by the band.
"De repente" continued with thick layers of guitars and opened soundscapes but with a more polished production and even more personal lyrics. Songs like "Tú me haces falta" and "Regional Preferente" dealt with themes of uprooting and uncertainty in relationships, all wrapped up in a warm and immersive atmosphere. This album showed the band at their best, combining their trademark nostalgic sound with a greater confidence in their ability to tell intimate stories through their music.
The success of "De repente" suddenly put Apartamentos Acapulco on tour across various countries. It was a tour that consolidated their presence outside of Spain, reaching new audiences both in América Latina and across Europe. Reaching the apex of this achievement marked a before-and-after moment in the career of this band, which began to be viewed as one of the most interesting proposals in shoegaze and dream pop on an international level.

Collaborations and new directions

One of the keys to Apartamentos Acapulco's success has been the fact that they have never been opposed to working with other artists and trying out new musical directions. Throughout their career, they have collaborated with a large number of musicians in the Spanish indie scene, allowing them to bring more depth to their sound and trying out new styles.
Besides, the band has shown itself open to continuous change. Even though they've held on tight to the essence of dream pop, they have managed to form their sound according to trends that went through without losing their character. Collaboration with Anni B Sweet and Triángulo de Amor Bizarro was important in this sense. It was an opportunity for Apartamentos Acapulco to explore new sonic textures and expand their audience.

The influence of Granada in its sound

Granada has been a permanent source of inspiration for this band. Its vital music scene and contribution to alternative rock have given the world iconic bands such as Los Planetas, whose influence can be clearly seen in Apartamentos Acapulco. The history, culture, and natural landscapes combine to make this city present in the lyrics and sounds of this band.
It is the spirit of Granada that, through the breeze of nostalgia and rich cultural life, imbues most of the music produced by Apartamentos Acapulco. Members of the band have spoken in different interviews about how the atmosphere of the city has influenced their creative process, be it in the lyrics or in the very sound of their discs. This relation with their surroundings helped give their music its peculiar character.
With several critically acclaimed albums and a growing fan base, Apartamentos Acapulco are at an exciting point in their career. The fact that they have managed to change and experiment with their sound without ever losing that deep emotional connection with their audience has earned them a top spot that is theirs for keeps in independent music.
And the future promises yet newer directions and collaborations. That fact that these musicians are able to evolve and grow as artists without losing the heart of their music means that Apartamentos Acapulco will stay a creative force in the music scene, now and in the coming years in Spain and abroad.
Apartamentos Acapulco have become one of the most innovative bands in the national indie scene. With their mix of dream pop and shoegaze, they have built a sound that is both introspective and expansive, evoking a deep nostalgia in every chord. With a career on the rise, the future looks bright for this band from Granada that has managed to capture beauty and pain in their music.