Bringing together the talents of Peruvian-born singer and actress Silvana Kane and those of Canadian multi-instrumentalists Adam Popowitz and Toby Peter, Pacifika excels at utilizing modern technologies to re-imagine a broad range of traditional musical forms. Typical of the Six Degrees label, Asucion is a high-class affair that scours the globe in search of not just exotic sounds, but a new way of presenting them.

While Popowitz is as comfortable playing Armenian folk music as he is laying down indie rock guitar riffs, bassist Peter, who was raised in Barbados, is an avid explorer of jazz who expertly injects his dub-wise knowledge of Latin and Caribbean grooves into each of the album’s 11 tracks. True to their geographically inspired name, Pacifika’s debut effort is replete with sun-splashed tracks like “Sol,” “Chiquita” and “Sweet,” all sung in Spanish by Kane, whose voice is authentically beautiful. The standout “Paloma” encapsulates the group’s collective personality with a toe-tapping gypsy rumba beat that dances around a synthesized Andean flute, double-tracked vocal harmonies and overlaid dub effects. Tempering raw power with sensual subtlety, Silvana’s love of flamenco pours through the Vancouver-based trio’s electronic landscapes, generating a lush and fully rounded sound that lingers long after the final note has faded.