Dallas, TX. (Top40 Charts/ Nacional Records) - Aterciopelados' highly-anticipated new album, 'Rio', is now in stores, coinciding with tremendous praise across the country from fans and media alike. While several critics declared the album as the group's best work yet, tastemaker public radio stations continue to support first single "Rio." Highlights include the track charting in the Top 10 at KUT (Austin) for the past three weeks and KCRW (LA) featuring the single as "Today's Top Tune" on the day of release.
New album 'Rio' finds the band aggressively building upon the creative momentum of 'Oye' , the critically-acclaimed album that won them a Latin GRAMMY, Premio Lo Nuestro and several other prestigious awards. TIME said, "Aterciopelados's true skill lies in its ability to take north-of-the-border musical styles... and breathe new life into them, all while giving them a distinctly Colombian sheen."
'Rio' is evidence that, as VIBE put it, "For Aterciopelados, maturity has become a form of liberation." The album was recorded in the band's hometown of Bogota and mixed by Hector Castillo (Brazilian Girls, David Bowie, Gustavo Cerati) in New York City. It is an impassioned, socially conscious record with the group's signature organic rock sound.
The album's opener and first single is the title track, a call to action that finds Aterciopelados at a new level of creativity and musicality. It coincides with a proposed Colombian constitutional referendum that declares a citizen's right to clean drinking water is a basic human right. "When I was growing up, the Bogota River was considered a mythic and iconic place, and now it's a tiny stream," says singer Andrea Echeverri. "Musically and lyrically, the track 'Rio' is unlike any previous Aterciopelados song. I'm even singing in a different way than in the past. With this one, we reached an entirely new place."
On "Bandera" ("Flag"), Aterciopelados speak out on immigration, another issue close to home. The song's chorus is "Que quien es usted/Que donde nacio/Entonces no puede entrar a esta nacion" (simply: "Who are you?/Where were you born?/Therefore you can't enter this country"). "We have toured across the world many times, yet every time, certain countries give us so much trouble when entering," Echeverri explains. "My problems with traveling are so small compared to others across the world but I thought I could give all these people a voice."
The album's guests range from rapper Gloria "Goyo" Martinez (of Colombian hip hop act Choc Quib Town) on "28," to the Andean group Kapary Walka on "Madre" and "Aguita." Echeverri's daughter, Milagros, makes an appearance on "Ataque de Risa." The birth of Milagros, now six, was the primary inspiration for her critically lauded self-titled solo album. "This track was originally going to be on a children's album I've been recording with Manolo, my husband, and Milagros in our home studio. With the first couple tracks, Milagros was nervous at the mic but now she approaches it with such confidence and happiness."
Aterciopelados plan to tour the U.S. in support of 'Rio' in early 2009, following the recent birth of Andrea Echeverri's second child. The band completed a European tour this past summer with her pregnant belly proudly displayed.
The longtime creative relationship between Echeverri and Buitrago proves to be the source for the Aterciopelados' musical genius. "We have had quite a musical career, which has evolved over the years through our own identity search and experimentation, finding our own sound," Echeverri says. "I do some things, like writing the songs and he does the other things, such as producing and imagining the musical vision for the song. We really complement each other musically in a way that works. And more important than anything, we have love and respect for each other."
