Tucson-based psychedelia/Cumbia fusion outfit, XIXA, take a journey through the nine levels of the Underworld – with a hairless dog as their guide, of course – on their 3rd album, XOLO.
Release Date: 21st March 2025
Label: Jullian Records
Formats: Vinyl / Digital
SOME PRETTY INTRIGUING MUSIC…
At the core of XIXA, the Tucson-based purveyors of Cumbia rhythms, fused with psychedelia, you’ll find Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan. The pair write all of the band’s material and they share the vocal and lead guitar contributions to what is, let’s face it, some pretty intriguing music.
When I read that XOLO, the band’s third album, (it follows their acclaimed 2021 offering, Genesis) is a concept album that documents a journey through the nine layers of the Underworld, I braced myself for an afternoon of semi-penetrable fantasy probing. I shouldn’t have done – XOLO is an entertaining, uplifting and highly listenable album and XIXA’s fusion of pop, electronica and psychedelic ideas with the Latino rhythms of Cumbia is thoroughly irresistible.
EL XOLO – THE SACRED, HAIRLESS, DOG…
The album’s title refers to a breed of Mexican hairless dog, the Xoloitzcuintli, a breed held sacred by the Mayan and Aztec cultures and, according to legend, capable of guiding travelers through Mictlán, the underworld of Aztec mythology. And that’s where the album’s concept comes in. El Xolo assumes the role of sacred protector to the story’s principal human character, a young girl named Arcoiris and leads her through all nine levels of Mictlán.
To tell the story, Brian and Gabriel are joined by, amongst others, vocalist Mona Chambers, who plays the part of Arcoiris. They’re also joined by Rob Grey and Mick Conroy, founding (and present) members of Modern English who chip in with, respectively, vocals and synth.
ALMOST LIKE A MUSICAL
Brian and Gabriel had the conceptual idea for the album when, whilst touring Europe in 2011, they came across a street theatre production. Royal de Luxe company used giant marionettes for their performance of the XOLO story in Nantes, France. Brian describes how he and Gabriel developed the concept during the years of lockdown: “When we get together, we push toward themes of good & evil, isolation & escape, despair & hope. There’s a lot of intention in this album – it’s almost like a musical.”
And Gabriel takes up the story: “This is the most intensive work I’ve ever put into a record. And it’s the most all-encompassing record we’ve ever made, from the chicha and Cumbia vibes to desert rock to some very songwriter-forward arrangements. The music very intentionally brings you into this world, through the levels of the Underworld, and the spirit is set free at the end.”
Do you get the idea? Never mind if you don’t. Spend some time with XOLO and I guarantee it will all make absolute sense, and you’ll want to set off on that same journey yourself.
INTRODUCING: XOLO AND ARCOIRIS
The story’s main characters, Xolo and Arcoiris, are introduced with Xoloitzcuintli, the album’s opening track. Not only that, the pronunciation of Xolo (“The ‘X’ at the beginning is to be pronounced like ‘C-H’”) is clarified at the outset. The band kick in with an unexpectedly bouncy, poppy tune as the lyrics depict the traveling pair’s entry to the Underworld. The music is part guitar-driven and part electronic and Brian’s and Gabriel’s guitars sizzle when they get going.
There’s a hint in the lyrics to Find You There of who Arcoiris might expect to encounter on her journey and the music is pleasant, with a hint of funk about it. The vocals – the voice of Xolo – are gritty and the song is highly listenable, in a late-sixties kind of way, with sharp, choppy guitar licks, solid bass and drums, and lush strings.
INTO THE UNDERWORLD…
Apanoayan documents the entry of Xolo and Arcoiris into the first level of the Underworld, and the music takes on a suitably mysterious feel. The song’s verses are built upon a nice, soft(ish) guitar riff and there’s a growing sense of dreaminess as Xolo and Arcoiris make their way down to the next level of Mictlán, a place where: “…mountains collide and you must time it perfectly to get through them.”
XIXA plunder their signature “Spaghetti Western” sound to supplement the sun-baked desert feel of Xolo de Galaxia, the album’s lead single and one of its several earworms. The song’s lyrics praise the wisdom of the hairless dog, Xolo and Brian and Gabriel interact on some nice twirly guitar solos.
MODERN ENGLISH AND EARTHY CUMBIA
And Rob and Mick, the chaps from Modern English, join in to add their weight to It Doesn’t Matter, the second – and more recent – of the two singles to preview the album. The song’s lyrics, written to an older, repurposed, tune, represent a fleeting moment of despair felt by Xolo and Arcoiris. Musically, the input of Rob and Mick shifts the theme from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. If the drumbeat isn’t electronic, it certainly sounds that way, as Mick’s MS-20 sparkles and pulses and Rob delivers a reassuring, uplifting, vocal.
Brian and Gabriel pay their own, special, tribute to the story’s hero, with Arcoiris. Faint, distorted guitars provide the intro to a gentle, percussion-rich passage of earthy Cumbia. The song is illuminated by electrifying guitar solos from both Brian and Gabriel and those solos sit very comfortably with the traditional Latino rhythms.
FUSION AND SERENITY
Xolo and Arcoiris enter the seventh level of the Underworld, Teocoyohuehualoyan – the place where: “Jaguars are said to eat the hearts of the dead” – to La Danza De Los Jaguares. A tune that showcases XIXA’s love of chicha Cumbia, Rebajada and Sonidero. It’s a magnificent song – an album highlight – a seamless blend of accordion-led Mexicana with rock instrumentation and stunning vocal effects. Guaranteed to get audiences up on their feet and – surely – a dead cert as the album’s next single…
The voyage through the Underworld is almost at its end and, with the appropriately-titled Waves of Serenity. XIXA provide a sense of calm, with a soft, percussive, rhythm, a gentle, repetitive bassline, sweeping strums of guitar and a twangy lead line. And – the deep vocals provide a reassurance that is echoed in lyrics like: “We shift through time in waves of security. We’ve crossed this land, we’ve come so far.”
ARRIVAL, CELBRATION AND A PARTING MESSAGE
Synths provide the dramatic build-in as Arcoiris and Xolo arrive at their destination with Heart of the World, the album’s celebratory closing track. Those celebrations are conducted to an infectious Latin rhythm and the story’s cast are joined by a throng of children – offsprings of their various friends. “We can dance into the night, sing a song into the light, give in to a world that we once knew,” sing the assembled masses as they dance away into the distance. The sounds of the jungle gradually take over. Brian and Gabriel don their acoustic guitars one last time and Mona – as Arcoiris – delivers the album’s, and the story’s, parting shot: “No longer consumed by fear, No longer do shadows control the sky, El Xolo has delivered me home. The darkness has succumbed to light.”
Nice one, Xolo!
Watch the official video to Xolo de Galaxia, the album’s lead single, below.
XIXA: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp
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