Gepe and Javiera Mena

Chile is far, far away. So far away that when it's Winter in the U.S., it's Summer in Chile.

With that much distance between us, you might wonder: What are the Chilean kids listening to? The same music as kids everywhere else, with a twist. The Chilean touch is all over the rock scene thanks to bands like Los Tres and Lucybell. But it's their new pop music which is making interesting noises.

If you're looking for Chilean reggaeton or rock en español, you can stop reading... now.

At the forefront of the new Chilean sound are the emolicious Javiera Mena and the dork folk of Gepe. The 24 year-old Gepe (aka Daniel Riveros) made an impressive debut in Chile late last year with "Gepinto", an album full of acoustic sounds, hand claps, electronic noises and, yes, toy instruments. If you're a fan of U.S. indie rock there's nothing surprising about that mix but the following should throw you for a loop: "Gepinto" was rated one of the best releases of 2005 by the Chilean edition of Rolling Stone magazine. His two available videos, for the songs Namás and Enfermedad de los ojos, translate Gepe's lo-fi taste into a friendly, unpretentious and seductively heartfelt mood.

Closely related in style and in frequent collaborations is the 23 year-old singer/songwriter Javiera Mena. Already a minor celebrity in Santiago de Chile – one of the largest cities in Latin America – Mena is now attracting fans in neighboring Argentina. Her debut, "Esquemas Juveniles" combines trendy 80's electropop with lyrics and delivery similar to 70's superstars The Carpenters. Check out four of her songs here and over 50 photos of the full-lipped and dark-haired cutie on Flickr.

(image via Gabriel Ebensperger)