The new album from valencian pop prince Ramírez Exposure is both a belting collection of tunes and a triumph over adversity»Martin Ruddock (Shindig! Magazine… the latest!)
«Víctor Ramírez représente une nouvelle vague de musiciens qui n’ont plus de complexex d’infériorité face aux Anglo-Saxon, et qui savent s’inscrire dans une tradition qui prefère aux effets de hype les mélodies intemporelles»
Jean-Emmanuel-Delux (Rock&Folk)
» Victor’s influences are rooted in the sixties, but he’s not a retro artist. Exit Times has plenty of hook-laden themes displayed throughout. His sound is somewhere between David Brookings and Secret Friend.»
Power Popaholic
«A nice balance of baroque and powerpop»
(Snooping the bandcamp)
«Given that Ramirez Exposure’s latest album is named after an environmental newsletter that advocated the end of humanity as a solution to environmental crisis, the contents are surprisingly chirpy. Opening track “Bridges and Roads” is light and sunny, but it is the title track “Exit Times” that really grabbed my attention with its cool electric guitar arpeggiations and dreamy vocals. Sometimes I imagine NYC as just teeming with bedrooms for making pop music.»
Denis Pillon (Pop Rock Record)
«Pop optimista, radiante, soleado, vital y cargado de una necesaria esperanza en estos tiempos de zozobra espiritual, material y personal’.»
Txema Mañeru (Ruta 66 – Tiempos de Rock & Roll)
«El valenciano ha consolidado una filosofía sonora personal, identificable a la primera a partir de un registro vocal característico, y un universo musical que irradia sincero optimismo al arroparse en un pop luminoso de calidad»
César Campoy Pacheco (Efe Eme)
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«These Exit Times» is the name of a newsletter sent by an environmental organisation advocating the extinction of the human race as a solution to save the planet. When Victor Ramirez first came across the group on the internet a couple of years ago, it brought a smile to his face. But after some pondering on the subject, he decided that «Exit Times» would be the name of his sensational third album as Ramirez Exposure.
The record started to take shape in early 2020, after a musical hiatus that had lasted a year. It had been somewhat of a dark period, and Victor felt it was time to go back to recording songs. It would be the first time he would be doing so at home. He had managed to set up a small studio that would allow him to make some proper recordings, and without having to use a computer. He’d also started a new job, as an orderly in a hospital, which gave him time to record and cash to pay the rent.
Victor was ready to take on the task of making the album with the help—albeit from a distance, this time—of Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star) and Brian Young (Jesus & Mary Chain, Ivy, Fountains of Wayne), both regular accomplices of the Spaniard in production and instrumentation duties. Working with the two of them feels very natural for him, even though they are in three different countries.
Looking back, it seemed as if he’d prepared himself for what was coming.
And so, the pandemic happened, and Victor found himself turning the ideas he had outlined on his phone into the songs for Exit Times. He was in a good place, personally and, despite the situation, he was happy to be able to contribute to society through his job at the hospital and, after coming home, to concentrate on his music and isolate himself from everything else.
Gradually, the sketches turned into luminous songs, with bright harmonies and lyrics that exude a fine irony. Victor admits that he strives to be a good pessimist every day, and the songs reveal a way of understanding life that relativises almost everything in order to stick with what’s really important. This subtle sense of humour in the lyrics, like the luminosity of his music, is vintage Ramirez, and is present throughout the album, and even on the cover. The artwork is a painting by German painter Angela Dalinger, depicting Victor himself, Colombo, his dog, and some meaningful objects. The vinyl record featured is George Harrison’s Brainwashed.
Exit Times is a shiny collection of songs with a universal vocation, bathed in sunshine pop with touches of new psychedelia. All simmered under the Mediterranean sun, the same sun that illuminates the entire planet.