Strata by El Búho
El Buho’s fifth studio album may be his most personal yet. Strata draws from Robin’s attempts to grapple with the tension of experiencing happiness, joy and gratitude in our daily lives with loved ones or through sharing music while the world falls apart around us. This dynamic of trying to live in the moment and enjoy the privileged life we have yet in the back of your mind there is an overwhelming sense of dread that the world will never be the same and, as climate change really starts to hit home, there are incredibly difficult times ahead. It is about our attempts to find a place of peace, balance and fulfillment between these powerful strata above and below us.
This is an album heavy with intimate and personal music that moves between personal joy and the anguish of our modern world. Timini is dedicated to Robin’s second son Oscar who earned the nickname Petit Mini (Little Mini) which became ‘Timini’. The track was inspired by the rustling wind and shaking leaves as Robin walked home from the hospital the evening after Oscar’s birth, writing the whole track in one exhausted and emotional sitting. Gentle Breeze was inspired by the feeling of a warm early summer’s afternoon with the family at home. Beautiful simplicity.
On the other hand, Alarma de Emergencia is a cumbia for the endless alarm that has been ringing, unheard across our planet for decades. Fuel Fandango singer Nita’s beautiful lyrics to its sister track Cenizas de Agua reference the need to “open our hearts, look for our own reflection and break the silence” While on Brujería Bomba Estereo frontwoman Li Saument implores us to sanar (heal) and limpiar clean above Robin’s trademark floating flutes and an organic dem-bow beat.
Meanwhile tracks like Piañuco show a new direction, blending the deep bass and unique rhythms of amapiano music with huayno folk melodies, featuring a whole host of musicians, including over 50 saxophone lines, meticulously recorded by argentine saxophonist Leandro Guffanti and his students in Barcelona. The album ends with Ley de Origen where we see El Búho reunited with his long-time collaborators Minük (Corazon de Rubi, Mirando El Fuego) for another moving and delicate song this time mixing Alumnis and Marcus’ beautiful vocals with a deep, warm sub bass and percussion and marimbas from Colombia’s pacific coast.
Tracklist
| 1. | Floating Islands | 4:54 |
| 2. | Cenizas de Agua (feat. Nita) | 4:03 |
| 3. | Gentle Breeze | 3:37 |
| 4. | El Búho & Bomba Estéreo - Brujería (feat. Li Saumet) | 3:43 |
| 5. | Piañuco | 3:32 |
| 6. | Timini | 4:34 |
| 7. | Alarma de Emergencia | 3:45 |
| 8. | Llanto de los Cerezos | 4:30 |
| 9. | Ley de Origen (feat. Minük) | 4:00 |
