Columbus’s Pinta, Niña and Santa María sail through “Delfín del Mundo” alongside pineapples, cockerels, chocolate, tobacco and caipirinhas, a roll call of conquest and tropical produce chanted over a psychedelic cumbia.

“Delfín del Mundo” is the third and final single from Desertropical, the new EP from Dr. Rayo, due in October on Costa Rican label Lácteo Cósmico. The project belongs to Red Jesus, a Chilean-Mexican percussionist and producer who spent 2014 to 2020 on Mexico’s independent circuit. Now based in Madrid, he launched the project with a sold-out night at Moby Dick.

Red Jesus made the track with Barzo, the San José-born DJ and producer who runs Lácteo Cósmico and has remixed Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu. He came to Madrid for a short visit, and the pair recorded most of the instruments live at Dr. Rayo’s base. Barzo then built the electronic production on top of those takes.

The earlier singles “Mexicali Tropical” and “Owl on Cocaine” opened big and dramatic, while “Delfín del Mundo” settles into a mid-tempo sway built on a slow-burning bassline, live percussion and a vocal delivered close to a chant. The vocal carries a message of pride in Latin American roots, and the cacao, tobacco and pineapples in the lyric were growing in the Americas long before Columbus’s ships arrived.

Desertropical gets a launch party at Madrid’s Siroco at the end of September, with Spanish dates to follow in Seville, Oviedo, Gijón, Logroño and Santander.

Stream “Delfín del Mundo” HERE