Natural Wonder Beauty Concept: “Sword”

Though their styles are distinct, Ana Roxanne and Brian Piñeyro have a shared predilection for drifting melodies and dreamy moods: Roxanne makes a kind of ambient pop, graceful and ethereal, while Piñeyro, better known as DJ Python and Luis, channels the snap of dembow and the lushness of deep house in slow-motion club (and club-adjacent) tracks. Now they’re working together as Natural Wonder Beauty Concept, with a self-titled album on the way. You can hear Pineyro’s handiwork in the lurching machine beat and Roxanne’s signature in the vocals’ crystalline soprano coo, while a bittersweet harpsichord pattern distills the melodic traits they share in common. But the collaboration has also brought out a new side of both of them: The song filigrees Roxanne’s voice with sharp-edged harmonics, and throws unpredictable tempo shifts into the rhythm. “You me you/Falling in deeper blue,” Roxanne sings, underlining the suggestion of two close confidants finding a new way forward.