![]() ![]() But it can get tiring after several songs – rare are the moments when he seems to fully open up and demonstrate the full emotional range of his voice. ![]() It puts the band in perfect company with other indie artists who have a gift for expressing emotion through subtlety, most notably Iron & Wine (whose collaboration with the band, the In the Reins EP, was actually my introduction to them). But Burns has a rather tedious habit of singing each song in a hushed, cautious tone as if he’s telling you some sort of an illicit secret. These two founded the band together, so it makes sense that they’d continue to be the driving creative forces behind the band. Algiers feels more focused in comparison, giving each of the multi-instrumentalists in the band a chance to demonstrate their chops on songs that range from lush, laid-back folk music to intense, politically charged Latin rock, but it took me long time to acknowledge that it’s actually a more powerful album than Carried to Dust.Ī lot of the reason why it’s easy to miss the beauty of a Calexico song on first listen is due to the core members who are given most of the spotlight – lead singer Joey Burns and drummer John Convertino. The lack of guest appearances from outside artists originally makes the album seem less diverse than its predecessor, 2008’s Carried to Dust, which straddled both sides of the border by incorporating guest vocals in both English and Spanish. But that isn’t really the case with Algiers – the sound of the album might allow some Afro-Cuban influences to creep in, but for the most part, it’s still the same “desert noir” genre that they’ve been working with for most of their existence. ![]() ![]() One might expect this change of venue to come with a bit of stylistic experimentation, perhaps a fair amount of collaboration with local musicians who embody the sound of New Orleans. On their latest album, Algiers, the Tucson-based band felt that they needed a change, so they uprooted themselves and set up shop in a church converted into a studio, in a neighborhood of New Orleans that they ended up naming the album after. And yet, when a strong Spanish guitar riff or a piercing horn section or a surprisingly menacing bridge emerges from a song that didn’t seem like much at first, I’m reminded of why I stick around and continue to give this band a chance. Listening to an album of theirs when I’m not in the right headspace for it can quite literally put me to sleep. Many of their songs have layers of depth and beauty that aren’t always apparent on the surface – indeed, very few of their songs tend to catch my attention on first listen. There’s a pervasive subtlety to their slightly jazzy, strongly Latin-influenced, and unmistakably Southwestern brand of indie folk. There are few bands who embody the term “sleeper hit” better than Calexico. In Brief: Like an exotic city with an inherent distrust of foreigners, Algiers takes its time to let you in, but it’s an enchanting place once you get to know it. ![]()
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