Sentir Que No Sabes

Mabe Fratti creates hypnotic, enchanting pieces for cello, voice, and electronics, incorporating looping techniques as well as improvisation. The Guatemala-born, Mexico City-based composer and performer released her debut album, Pies sobre la tierra, in 2019, and has continued to receive increasing acclaim with subsequent works like Se Ve Desde Aquí (2022) and collaborative projects such as Titanic and Amore Muere. Her fourth album and most accessible release to date, Sentir Que No Sabes, was released to widespread praise in 2024.

Born in Guatemala, Mabe Fratti was raised in a Pentecostalist family, and was only allowed to listen to Christian or classical music while growing up. Classically trained as a cellist, she gradually discovered more avant-garde music, and began making music as a teenager, expanding into other genres after she left the church. She moved to Mexico City in 2015 as part of a residency with the Goethe Institute, and became involved with the city's improvisational music scene. Fratti released Moot Point, a collaboration with EvilTapes, in 2018, followed by the EP Aprendiendo a Hablar, which featured saxophonist Roberto Tercero and experimental artist Concepción Huerta. Her first album, Pies sobre la tierra, arrived in 2019, inspired by W.G. Sebald's novel The Rings of Saturn. An EP titled Se Parece A appeared in 2020. The full-length Será Que Ahora Podremos Entendernos was released by Unheard of Hope in 2021, including appearances by claire rousay and Tajak. Fratti collaborated with Gudrun Gut (Malaria!, Einstürzende Neubauten) for the album Let's Talk About the Weather, issued by Umor Rex. She also released another collaboration with Concepción Huerta, the EP Estática.

Fratti began receiving major acclaim in 2022 with the release of the solo album Se Ve Desde Aquí, which was named Best New Music by Pitchfork. The same designation was also granted to Vidrio, the 2023 debut by Titanic, Fratti's chamber pop/jazz project with Héctor Tosta. Fratti formed the experimental group Amore Muere with Concepción Huerta, Gibrana Cervantes, and Camille Mandoki, and they issued A time to love, a time to die in 2023. Sentir Que No Sabes, Fratti's dreamy, impressionistic fourth solo album, received heavy acclaim upon its appearance in 2024. ~ Paul Simpson