…or the music for a place that seems to be at the edge of the world
1.Falling From The Sky/2. Bullets& Rocks/3. When The Angels Played/4. Tapping On The Line/5. Cumbia de Donde/6. Miles From The Sea/7. Coyocan/8.Beneath The City Of Dreams/9. Woodshed Waltz/ 10.Moon Never Rises/ 11.World Undone/12. Follow The River
Release Date: 13 April 2015, City Slang
“The ‘edge of the sun’ could be coming from the direction of darkness seeking light, or riding the line between both…All in all, this album is about pushing through the blue to brighter days. Calexico has always had that element of hope, going back and forth between a positive outlook and embracing desperate or dark themes that I think we all share.” (Joey Burns)
Calexico a.k.a Joey Burns and John Convertino released their first studio album in the 90s where rock and metal music styles were the dominating music trends. Calexico were ‘looking’ for influences towards Latin America, with a creative mind and an open heart. Ever since their first studio album ‘Spoke’ the band had a very clear idea about which would be the reference points of their sound; namely almost every aspect of the music of the American south with a focus on the derivatives and fusions of the music and dance rhythms of Latin America. Western movies and their music has also been a very powerful influence for the band and in almost every release we have identified elements that take our minds to the music of Ennio Morricone and to music for westerns in general.
Each of their previous eight studio albums comprise different combinations of all these influences from country and bluegrass to music for westerns and the derivatives of Cuban son. All of Calexico’s music is sincere because it doesn’t replicate any of the music styles from which it has been inspired. The band creates a hybrid style by choosing to highlight different aspects of these influences within each album. The element that binds all these seemingly different and unique styles is the singing style and the tones of the vocals. As a result Calexico’s music is differentiated from bands and singers of traditional latin American songs. The vocals place Calexico’s music to the sphere of world music in contrast to what the term ‘traditional south American music’ might mean. One could say that the genres that gave birth to Calexico’s music were regenerated through the band’s compositions and were given a different voice and even another character. Calexico have been influenced by a lot of different trends but don’t replicate any of them and this is the essence of creativity in any art form.
Their previous studio album entitled ‘Algiers’ was probably one of their most atmospheric releases since the more experimental album ‘Aerocalexico’ . By contrast to ‘Carried to Dust’ which had a more ‘electric’ sound, ‘Algiers’ included various instruments with distinct sonic character (i.e. trombone, saxophone, viola, theremin, saxophone). The arrangement of these instruments alongside the rest of the instruments that form the core of Calexico’s music (i.e. trumpet, electric guitars, piano, synthesizer, pedal steel guitar, violin) created a memorably rich sound. The band has always expressed the essence of the melancholy of Latin American culture through their music and achieved this even more successfully in ‘Algiers’. The recording of the vocals was somehow different in this album and as a result I had the feeling that I participated in an ‘up close and personal’ discussion. The atmosphere of that album was navigating the mind, soothed and heightened the feelings and motivated the body to follow the melodies and the rhythms.
‘Edge Of The Sun’ a collaborative album
It’s been three years since ‘Algiers’ and ‘Edge Of The Sun’ the ninth studio album of Calexico was inspired by a trip to Mexico City. The music this time is a blend of Americana, (i.e. ‘When The Angels Played’), indie rock (i.e. ‘Falling From The Sky’, ‘Bullets & Rocks’), music for westerns (i.e. ‘Cumbia de Don’) and latin american rhythms (i.e. ‘Coyocàn’). As always the music of Calexico can’t be strictly described accurately by assigning it to a specific music genre however some influences can be clearly identified. I can’t stress enough my fascination of the way with which Calexico handle their influence by music of western movies. The music of Ennio Morricone comes to mind when I listen to ‘Cumbia de Don’ in this album as well as the older ‘El Gatillo (Trigger Revisited)’ , ‘Sanchez’ and ‘Wash’.
Calexico were joined by several fellow musicians from Iron & Wine (i.e. Sam Beam), Band Of Horses (i.e. Ben Bridwell), Devotchka (i.e. Nick Urata) and the greek traditional band called Takim which has released one album that was produced by Padelis Thalassinos, a famous greek singer/songwriter. Ben Bridwell, Sam Beam and Nick Urata provide male backing vocals in three of the twelve songs of the album. More specifically Sam Beam a.k.a Iron & Wine singer/songwriter has provided backing vocals in the song ‘House Of Valparaiso’ of the album ‘Carried To Dust’ and he participates again in this latest album and specifically in ‘Bullets and Rocks’. Amparo Sanchez, Neko Case, Gaby Morreno, Pieta Brown and Carla Morrison provide female backing vocals in seven out of the twelve songs of the album. Of all the additional female vocals in this album I liked the most Neko Case an American singer/songwriter who participates in ‘Tapping On The Line’. Gaby Moreno and Carla Morrison provided discreet backing vocals in ‘Miles From The Sea’, ‘Beneath The City Of Dreams’ and ‘Woodshed Waltz’. ‘Moon Never Rises’ is the second song within this album that stresses the female vocals as much as ‘Tapping On The Line’ and the combination of trumpets and percussion juxtaposed the ethereal character of the female vocals.
‘Edge Of The Sun’ compared to previous Calexico albums
‘Edge Of The Sun’ has less captivating melodies than ‘Algiers’ and is less experimental than the older ‘Aerocalexico’ but has equally motivating rhythms. ‘Cumbria de Donde’ in which Amparo Sánchez a Spanish musician provides backing vocals and ‘Coyocàn’ transferred my mind immediately to a sunny colourful unknown place with a Mediterranean feel and created the desire to grab whoever was near me to dance. ‘Edge Of The Sun’ is not album that is based so much on percussion as was the case with the ‘The Black Light’. The electric guitar is not at the foreground as it was in ‘Carried To Dust’ however I found that stylistically ‘Edge Of The Sun’ is closer to that album. Percussion instruments and maracas enrich the sound and work well close to the electric guitars. The prominent role of the harmonica after 1:08 within ‘When The Angels Played’ and the reference to the music of the middle east that the violin provides at 3:00 in ‘World Undone’ were welcome surprises that provided a nice twist in the atmosphere of these songs. The album closes with ‘Follow The River’, the calming sound of the piano notes after 2:59 and I have been left with the desire to watch again the movie ‘Amelie’ as somehow the taste that this album leaves to me is as sweet and kind as the thoughts and unselfish deeds of Amelie Poulin!
I will be waiting impatiently for the next release of Calexico. Until then, the band has scheduled four live appearance in the UK with the first at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on April 28. You can buy tickets for this gig by following this link: http://www.gigsandtours.com/event/calexico/o2-shepherds-bush-empire/828673/ and you can purchase ‘Edge Of The Sun’ directly from the band by following this link: http://www.frocksteady.com/shop/bands/calexico.html
7.5/10
Blaue Rosen 