Rodrigo y Gabriela’s nieuwe album “OurHome” is opgenomen in Japan met behulp van gevestigde namen uit de muzikale scene van Tokyo (o.a. gitarist Marty Friedman en pianiste Hiromi Uehara). Als eerste single verschijnt de track “Monster”. Het is geinspireerd op een verhaal (‘a psychological thriller’) van de immense populaire Japanse manga comic artiest Naoki Urasawa (die wereldwijd meer dan 140 miljoen boeken heeft verkocht!). Urasawa bleek een Rod y Gab fan te zijn en is verantwoordelijk voor de begeleidende ‘animated’ videoclip van “Monster”.
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Monster (Official Video) ▼
TRACKLISTING:
1 OurHome
2 Somos Como Tu
3 Akatsuki
4 Flying Underground
5 Quicksand
6 Monster
7 Astrum In Corpore
8 Is In Your Pocket
9 MADitation
10 Hinomaru Twins
11 Simurgh
InFO
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s grote doorbraak was alweer ruim 10 jaar geleden toen ze met Hans Zimmer de soundtrack schreven van de kaskraker “Pirates Of The Caribbean”. Dit zorgde onder meer voor ‘worldwide headline shows at legendary venues as the Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks (Colorado), Radio City Music Hall (New York), Royal Albert Hall (London) and Le Zenith (Paris). They even performed at the White House with Beyonce in the Obama-era’. Ze ontvingen in 2019 voor de cd “Mettavolution” een Grammy Award als ‘Best Contemporary Instrumental Album’. Vier jaar later ontvingen ze ook een Grammy nominatie voor hun versie van “The Struggle Within” (afkomstig van het Metallica tribute-album “The Metallica Blacklist”) als ‘Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella’.
De muziek van Rodrigo Y Gabriela is een dynamische mengeling van Latin, world, klassieke muziek, folk en instrumentale gitaar rock; ‘the music is built on harnessing the flash, power and speed of rock and metal, and filtering it through the passion, soul, technique and discipline of nuevo flamenco. Their showy, cinematic and emotional sound is marked by Quintero’s syncopated, hooky percussive rhythms and rapid-fire strummed vamps and Sanchez’s incendiary, single- and dual-string melodic leads’.
With their new album OurHome, Rodrigo y Gabriela invite listeners into a dreamlike universe that could only come from a truly unbound mind: an enchanted world of rogue monsters and ancient celestial birds, skeletons made of stardust and savage lands of endless rain, all brought to life by the way of their wildly expressive form of instrumental guitar music. But before diving into their seventh studio album, the Mexico City-bred duo endured a period of deep creative frustration, eventually unlocking their vision for the album and making the pivotal choice to record in Japan. Not only a repeat destination in their two-decade-plus run as a globally acclaimed live act, the Land of the Rising Sun serves as an infinite source of renewal for Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, who refer to the inner sustenance they’ve found in Japan as ‘the nectar of life’. The result is a body of work that summons a luminous stillness, even as its songs surge forward with virtuosic intensity and unstoppable momentum.
In a profound shift from the electric-guitar-heavy sound of 2023’s In Between Thoughts…A New World, OurHome returns to the textural fluidity of acoustic instrumentation - a natural counterpart to the lp’s spacious and often stunningly delicate arrangements. Self-produced by Rodrigo y Gabriela at NK Sound Tokyo, the odyssey-like album unfolds with an otherworldly beauty achieved with an eclectic line-up of guest musicians, including former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman and Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara. Mixed by 5 time Grammy winner Dave Sardy (The Who, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers), including for his previous work with Rodrigo y Gabriela, and mastered by Stephen Marcussen (Nirvana, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones), OurHome ultimately echoes all the transcendence and serenity and elated fascination Rodrigo y Gabriela have routinely experienced in their journeys to Japan. “We’ve always felt drawn to Japan because of the art and aesthetics and attention to beauty,” says Quintero. “There’s also something about being there that invites you to look inward, to reconnect with who you really are and what gives you meaning”.
True to the charmed nature of OurHome, the album’s origins trace back to an uncanny encounter involving a cat. After a failed attempt at working with a sought-after producer from the indie-rock world, Rodrigo y Gabriela returned to their Ixtapa studio and weathered a stretch of stagnation finally broken by the death of their studio kitty, a hot-tempered calico named Pelusa (‘Fluffy’). “Before her passing, we were searching for ideas in a way that felt very pressured and forced,” says Quintero. “Then the day after she died, Rod wrote a song for Pelusa and suddenly everything started to flow. It was like she was telling us, ‘Stop fucking around and just do what you do best’ - which meant playing from our hearts with no agenda”. Within several months, Rodrigo y Gabriela embarked on a tour of Japan and Australia, where they experienced another moment of mystical alignment. “At the end of the tour we were walking around Melbourne and talking about the idea of home,” says Quintero. “It’s easy to get caught up in trying to please others so that you’ll feel like you belong, but to us home means finding peace within yourself instead of seeking external approval. As we were walking we passed by a public housing tower, and there was a huge sign out front saying ‘OUR HOME’. It felt like a message from the universe, telling us we were on the right path”.
Voor meer informatie Rodrigo y Gabriela rodgab.com.
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