Calexico
Their ninth studio album is the followup to 2015’s critically
acclaimed Edge of Sun. Working with their longtime engineer Craig
Schumacher, Calexico co-produced The Thread That Keeps Us, gathering
musicians from across the globe to dream up an earthy yet expansive
sound spiked with jagged guitar tones and flashes of distortion.
The album mostly came to life in a house studio near the Northern
California coast. Known as the Panoramic House but nicknamed “Phantom
Ship” by Calexico vocalist/guitarist Joey Burns and drummer John
Convertino, the sprawling Stinson Beach home was built partly from
shipyard-salvaged timber and cobblestones unearthed from the streets of
San Francisco.
The drama of that landscape directly influenced the lead single and
opening track to The Thread That Keeps Us. Driven by sing-song melody
and galloping rhythms, “End of the World With You” finds an unlikely
romanticism in volatile times. With its lyrics illuminating “love in the
age of the extremes,” the track feels equally joyful and grim: the
perfect intro to an album that endlessly explores the contrast between
bright and dark, hope and fear.
Like “End of the World with You,” much of The Thread That Keeps Us
captures the anxieties and unease of living in tumultuous times. But
while the album draws a kinetic energy from all that uncertainty, its
lyrics unfold with a literary nuance and sense of setting and character.
On the making of the album, co-founder Joey Burns says, “There’s a
little more chaos and noise in the mix than what we’ve done in the
past,” Burns points out. Although that chaos has much to do with “where
we’re at right now as a planet,” it also echoes Calexico’s dedication to
constant experimentation. “Whenever we’re writing and we come up with
something that feels too familiar, someone will end up saying, ‘That
feels good, but let’s keep going and see what else we can uncover,’”
Burns says. “It’s been really important to the arc of this band’s
evolution for us to always keep on trying new things.”
CALEXICO ARE: Joey Burns, John Convertino, Martin Wenk, Jacob Valenzuela, Sergio Mendoza, Jairo Zavala Ruiz, and Scott Colberg.
Tickets available on Ticketone.it and Mailticket.it
