Seventh studio album from Mexico City-raised guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.  OurHome sees the couple return to their signature acoustic instrumentation – and adding Japanese flavourings to their Latin rhythms.

DRAWN TO JAPAN

Welcome to OurHome – the seventh studio album from Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero.  OurHome marks a change of direction for the pair in more ways than one.  Firstly, Rodrigo y Gabriela took the brave – and ultimately rewarding – decision to record and produce the album in Japan; at NK Sound studios in Tokyo, to be precise.  Secondly, OurHome signals a return to the duo’s signature acoustic approach, following the electric experimentation of their previous album, 2023’s In Between Thoughts… A New World.

For OurHome, Rodrigo y Gabriela are aided by an eclectic lineup of guest musicians, including former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi, cellist Hiyori Okuda and guitarist/composer Yukihiro Atsuma.  The transcendence and serenity of Japan can be sensed throughout OurHome.  “We’ve always felt drawn to Japan because of the art and aesthetics and attention to beauty,” says Gabriela.  “There’s also something about being here that invites you to look forward, to reconnect with who you really are and what gives you meaning.”

A CAT NAMED PELUSA

OurHome’s origins can be traced back to an uncanny encounter involving a cat named Pelusa, whose death perversely triggered the end of a period of creative stagnation.  Gabriela takes up the story.  “Before [Pelusa’s] passing, we were searching for ideas in a way that felt very pressured and forced.  Then, the day after she died, Rod wrote a song for her and, suddenly, everything started to flow.  It was like Pelusa was telling us: ‘Stop F-ing around and just do what you do best – which meant playing from our hearts, with no agenda.”  Pelusa’s song was re-christened OurHome.

And it’s that tune that launches OurHome, the album.  From the outset, the listener is left in no doubt with regard to the sheer mastery that both Rodrigo and Gabriela have over their instruments.  Indeed, I was left to ponder whether Rodrigo, in particular, is blessed with double the number of fingers granted to we mere mortals.  His playing is fast, fluid and utterly tuneful.  Gabriela provides a sharp, choppy rhythm and cellist Hiyori provides a soft, smooth blanket to support the guitar wizardry.

VOCALS AND LYRICS

Somos Como Tu – it translates as ‘We Are Like You’ – is the first song in the duo’s extensive canon to feature lyrics – which Rodrigo delivers with a soothing, soulful, voice.  Gabriela chips in with a couple of quickfire raps and, between the vocalizing, there’s more of that amazing fretboard work to savour.  The lyrics are a contemplation of migration, displacement and shared humanity.  Rodrigo wrote them whilst living in Paris in 2015.  Current attitudes towards the song’s subject matter provided the spur to include the song on the album.

Named after a secret organization of mercenary ninjas, Atatsuki is distinguished by Hiromi’s otherworldly piano flourishes.  “It’s so amazing to watch Hiromi play,” notes Rodrigo.  “She was a child prodigy but she has this incredible energy and adds a lot of percussive sounds – almost like us, but on piano instead of guitar.”  The tune is the sort of piece that the listener can’t fail to associate with the deserts and hills of Mexico.  Rodrigo’s and Gabriela’s guitars interweave delightfully and Hiromi adds a sense of urgency and drama.

SHAPESHIFTING

Hiyori returns for Flying Underground and the mood lightens.  Gabriela beats out the rhythm as only she can. Rodrigo supplies a pleasant melody. The sweet sound of Hiyori’s cello fills any remaining space.  The album’s press release describes Quicksand as: “a gloriously shapeshifting piece that begins in a lovely tranquility before morphing into a frenetic expression of overwhelm,” and that’s a pretty accurate summary.  The tune is captivating and invigorating.

Inspired by the visions of manga luminary Naoki Urasawa, Monster – the album’s lead single – starts life as a folksy Mexican guitar recital.  This isn’t a theme that endures, though – unsurprisingly so, as the piece is intended as the accompaniment to the story of a psychopathic killer.  The tune gains weight the longer it progresses, with heavy electric guitars and fluent percussion taking more and more of the spotlight.

WE’RE ALL MADE OF STARDUST

And it’s the theories and conjectures of German Renaissance philosopher/alchemist Paracelsus that provide the inspiration for Astrum in Corpore.  Paracelsus believed that the stars and the planets have a direct influence upon our bodies ‘because we’re all made of stardust.’  “In his time,” explains Gabriela, “everyone thought he was crazy, but the idea that we’re part of something bigger than our own little worlds is very appealing to me.”  The contrast between the heavenly and the terrestrial reflects in the way the piece switches between fast-paced drama and pastoral melody without ever missing a beat.

Rodrigo met Japanese guitarist/composer Yukihiro Atsumi at a Kyoto street festival and, so impressed was he by Yukihiro’s mastery of his nylon-stringed guitar that he invited him to play on Is In Your Pocket.  The Press Release uses the term ’ethereal splendour’ and, again, that’s a description that hits the spot.  Rodrigo’s and Yukihiro’s guitars blend nicely as Gabriela provides a chugging, percussive rhythm on an engaging foot-tapper of a tune.

AN ASTONISHING CLOSE

The rhythms and melodic mastery continue for MADitation and, it seems, body and foot movement is unavoidable, before electric guitar makes a reappearance for the absorbing Hinomaru Twins.  The electric guitar solo is played to a backing that intensifies as the song progresses until, finally, Rodrigo switches to acoustic guitar and the pace increases from ‘canter’ to ‘gallop.’

OurHome reaches an astonishing close by the epic Simurgh, a piece that plays out in several contrasting parts.  Folky Mexican melodies and passages of quiet contemplation pave the way to a smouldering climax – a devastating electric guitar solo from guest Marty Friedman.  Hiyori’s cello also makes a welcome return as the tune – and the album – surges towards a BIG ending that feels wholly appropriate.

Reflecting upon OurHome, Rodrigo and Gabriela agree that they consider the album to be both a love letter to Japan and a meditation on the possibility of finding peace, wherever you are.  ”Japan is a magical place for us and every time we go, we love it more,” says Rodrigo.  “But we also realise the way we feel there isn’t only because of Japan itself – it’s a state of being we could easily access anywhere… We made this album to celebrate what helps us to find the home within ourselves and we hope that it inspires everyone to figure out what home means to them.”

Watch the official video to Monster – the album’s lead single – below:

Rodrigo y Gabriela: Website

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