Brooklyn-based electronic indie band Balún self-identify as transnational. Balún’s sophomore album Prisma Tropical focuses an incredibly wide field of genres and influences into a revelatory sound that evokes both of the band’s homes and the distance between them. Heavy doses of tiple, bomba barrel drum, and dembow work alongside loops and layers of shimmering synths to accomplish something explicitly of the island, yet fluent in the language of global pop. Tied together around the magical realism of singer Angélica Negrón’s lyrics, Balún’s deep understanding of reggaeton's Jamaican dancehall roots has transformed their shoegaze pop into “dreambow.” Prisma Tropical was released July 20th 2018 via Goodchild Music and premiered on NPR’s First Listen. The album release saw Balún embark on a national tour including live recordings with KEXP and Audiotree. Prisma Tropical was one of NPR’s Top 50 Albums of 2018, placed #4 in Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Latin Albums of 2018, and The New York Times named “Años Atrás” one of the best 65 songs of 2018. In SXSW 2018 the band was selected as one of "17 Acts That Stood Out" by the New York Times.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.