The rapture of rumba and flamenco

Francisco Javier Labandón Pérez is better known as El Arrebato, The Rapture.

From Seville, he is one of Spain’s biggest names in a more pop-oriented flamenco genre which also embraces rumba and Latin rhythms. He was signed to EMI after sending a demo to a member of Camela, a group who had formed in 1994 and were to the fore in techno-rumba and so therefore in a dance music world removed from what can be the rigidities of flamenco.

His first album was released in 2001 and he has enjoyed huge success ever since, his releases having gone multi-platinum. His 2019 album ‘Abrazos’ (Hugs) and a 2020 follow-up special edition ‘+Abrazos’ have lent their name to a tour that is now coming to an end.