Latest Effort from Spain's Hinds Shifts from Shiny, Happy Sound

Hinds co-founders, co-vocalists, co-guitarists and co-songwriters Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote say that Bob Dylan is to blame for their Madrid-based indie rock group’s formation.

“Years ago, I had a bad breakup with a boyfriend,” says Cosials in a Zoom conference call with Perrote. The two spoke from their respective homes in Madrid. Hinds performs with the Happy Return at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights . “I suggested we go on holiday to forget about him. We took two guitars even though we didn’t know how to play. I bought them when I wanted to become a new person. We started playing [Dylan’s] ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ again and again and again and again. It was so cool. We got hooked with music. It was one of the best feelings in the world.’

Cosials says the duo began wondering if they should start a band. Their response, which she says they uttered out loud, was “hell yeah!”

“We started doing covers, and it was nothing serious,” she says. “We officially started the band in 2014.”

A pivotal moment came when the group heard contemporary alternative rock acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Måneskin.

“We both clearly remember when we saw bands from our generation doing something we liked,” says Perrote. “We listened to old music, and it wasn’t so easy to find new playlists. We listened to Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan. When we discovered newer bands, we were blown away. We were like, ‘Oh my God, they look like us.’”

The band had a steady run until the pandemic brought touring to a standstill. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The group had just released a new album and couldn’t hit the road in support of it. And then, when it was time to start recording a follow-up, the motivation just wasn’t there.

“It wasn’t so much a creative block,” says Perrote when asked about getting started on the band’s latest release, Viva Hinds . “It was more emotional. We were so drained. We were so drained. We were trying to tour the album that had just been released. We are very DIY people and put a lot of thought and energy into our albums. We were seen as happy and cheerful people. When we were writing, we weren't feeling cheerful. Some songs were definitely not cheerful. That caused us to wonder. But we just said that this is what we are writing. We weren’t going to pretend. We never write with an idea in our head. We just let go. We just wrote about what we were going through.”

The band holed up at a studio in France and devoted all its time to writing and recording.

“It was such a fucking good decision to do that,” says Cosials. “We were living in the same place where we were recording, and we weren’t counting the dollars. It was very cheap. We had such a great time. It was like a house made of music. It was so cool.”

Album opener, “Hi How Are You,” really bristles thanks to its grunge-y guitars that make it sound like a Hole tune. A hot summer day in Madrid inspired the tune.

“For three days in Madrid, the sky was absolutely yellow and everything was full of dirt and super super filthy,” says Cosials. “We were driving around, and the sky was falling down, and it was clear to us that we wanted to do synthesis of sounds something very much like a storm. It was like a shock inside. That’s what we tried to do with those aggressive sounds. We wanted to shake you somehow.”

On the rollicking "En Forma," a Low Cut Connie-like tune with barroom piano and pummeling drums, the group sings in Spanish for the first time on a studio recording.

“It’s like a hidden magic trick we can do,” says Perrote when asked about singing in her native language. “You didn’t even notice. We don’t want to predict too much what we will do next. We plan as little ahead possible. We very much focus on the now. It’s something we enjoy and our fans enjoy as well. It’s like a different instrument.”

The album also includes collaborations with Beck and Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten.

Anxious to resume international touring, Perrote says the group has fine-tuned the live show, which has “a bit of everything.”

“We take [performing live] seriously and want to gave it a proper thought and will play so many of the new songs," she says. "We fucking live music with all of our guts. It’s the best feeling in the world to be on stage and connected with strangers through songs they can cry to or laugh to or dance to. We’re so excited to go on tour and play in Cleveland, where we haven’t played in a very long time.” Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.

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