Acid Coco left Colombia many years ago, but it’s never far away. Channelling cumbia, punk, champeta, reggaeton and other tropical rhythms with electronic sounds in recording sessions that doubled as therapy, the Colombian duo have created a work of visceral emotion that traverses musical landscapes. Love, Colombia and memories of past lives are some of the sources that inspired the group in the process of writing and creating their debut album, Mucho Gusto.
Sometimes being apart brings you even closer.
These tracks were recorded over two frenzied sessions in Geneva; ideas, lyrics, music, memories laid down on tape (sorry, hard drive), a creative purge driven by emotional and physical collapse. Creation proved to be the panacea and Colombia the shelter, a place where they could rinse away their demons by evoking dreams of yore, both musically and spiritually.
On Mucho Gusto you will find rhythms that speak of the density and diversity of Colombia’s music. These are styles of music made to make people dance, whether next to an ear-shattering picó sound system, a fanfare of brass, an
accordion-led trio or even a family vitrola. They are styles that were born nostalgic, tied to the environments where they came, but also full of devilry, serious songs laced with one-liners and fun-poking wordplay, never afraid to mock itself. This is the spirit of Acid Coco.
On “Yo Bailo Sola” the cumbia beat is unmistakeable, yet they break with the dogma of tradition (a recurring theme), the song’s female protagonist telling her would-be dance partner to leave her be, she wants to dance alone. The Afro- Colombian party music of champeta takes hold on “Caminando Vas” and “La Chancla”, which use the bargain- bin Casio SK-5 keyboard for a sound heard on picó sound systems up and down the Colombian coast.
“El Amor de Mis Amores” continues the champeta love-in, its lyrics finding the duo in playful mood, speaking of “The Love of All Loves” who is instantly forgotten when the romance ends. “It's the Colombian way of talking about the tragicomic way we live our lives”, they say. “We're used to making fun of everything, it’s our way to cope and survive all our tragedies.”
These are tragedies both personal and national, speaking of a Colombia where, despite a peace agreement, activists and social leaders are still being killed on a regular basis. The scars across Colombia still have some way before they
can heal, a theme that haunts the cumbia “El Lamento”, a pure example of how a song about tragedy can still have a thumping beat.
“Sin Salida” is them at their most punk, transposing Suicide to the Caribbean coast with distorted bass and lo-fi beats, “Solo Estás Tu” brings tecno merengue (a popular style from the 90s) bang up-to-date, and a softer side emerges on
“Siempre En Mis Sueños”, which fuses a ballad with a reggaeton beat. “Nuevo Día" has a pop influence which recalls the beginning of the Rock En Español movement in Latin America. Final track “Me Voy” pays tribute to son montuno, salsa being one of the main musical motors of these two Colombians.
The music of Acid Coco will ring true for anyone who has been paying attention to the diasporic music being made by Colombians around the world – Systema Solar, Combo Chimbita, La Rueda, Bomba Estéreo, the list goes on. Like Acid Coco, these are artists combining Colombian rhythms and folklore with ideas from global music and the Western avant-garde. It’s music with a Colombian heart and soul that’s impossible to shake: “Even if we don't want to sound like Colombians, we always sound like Colombians”, say the group.
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Digital Link :https://ditto.fm/el-amor-de-mis-amores
Second single from Acid Coco is a tragicomic champeta that captures emotionsand energies of a night out on Colombia’s Caribbean coast
Following on from the female-empowering cumbia of “Yo Bailo Sola”, the second single from Colombian duo Acid Cocosees them retain the Caribbean swagger but the rhythm and emotions have changed.
With a flow, that’s is almost like a tongue twister, “El Amor de Mis Amores” (The Love of Our Loves) talks about that special and intoxicating love that we all experience at some point, that feels so deep when it’s happening, but then once it’s gone, it’s gone. “It’s about fleeting, intoxicating love,” says Andrea. “They were the love of our loves, but then they left and we got on with our lives”. Paulo adding: “It’s our way of talking about the tragi-comedy that we live every day of our lives. We’re used to making fun of everything.”
Sometimes it’s necessary to get nostalgic, to hark back to carefree days, especially when your current life is a roller-coaster, and Colombian politics and global lockdown, offer no respite. That’s what Acid Coco do here, with a rhythm influenced by champeta but that starts with charged punk guitar, adds shimmering synth blasts to pounding bass, and cracks like a reggaeton floor-filler. It’s like going to a rock gig, then off to a picó sound system block party before finishing the night dancing at the discoteca; Colombian youth trapped in a bottle.“
El Amor de Mis Amores” is the second single taken from the group’s debut album Mucho Gusto, an album full of Colombian rhythms and emotions, with each song a vignette of life, memories pulled from the past and shaped by the present.“
El Amor de Mis Amores” will be released on 7 August by El Palmas Music.
lyrics
Perdí la forma romántica de ver la vida
Mi corazón cada vez más parecido a una piedra que a una esponja
Muerta en vida me siento
Felices somos desde adentro eso lo sé pero como hacer si en el fondo al que quiero es a usted
Y no lo puedo tener
Creo que voy a enloquecer
El amor de mis amores eres tú
Ya no te quiero tener
Y no te puedo querer
El amor de mis amores eres tú
Pero pa' mi ya da igual
Yo no te quise esperar
To'a las tardes te espero parada en la esquina
Te veo pasar con tu mochila
Con tú olor de ayer
Y la carita de yo no fuí
Siempre se te olvida que yo existo
Ahora te dejo en visto
Ni una vuelta más a tu lado yo daré ni un intento más esto se va a merecer
El amor de mis amores eres tú
Ya no te puedo querer
Y no te quiero tener
El amor de mis amores eres tú
Y cuando pienso en tu amor Ya no me queda más na'
credits
from Mucho Gusto,
released October 2, 2020
Mastering at The Carvery Studios
Design, Ilustration and Art Direction Daria Mechkat
El Palmas Music
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