Meridian Brothers Bring ‘Legendary’ Salsa Group ‘El Grupo Renacimiento’ Back To Life On New Album
18 May, 2022Colombia’s Meridian Brothers are up to their usual tricks with a delirious salsa pastiche. For their latest album they have partnered up with El Grupo Renacimiento, a supposedly-legendary salsa dura outfit from the 70s known for their “b-class salsa” exploring themes of police brutality, social marginalisation, addiction and other human struggles.
The lead single, “Metamorfosis” sets the scene with deconstructed salsa percussion, a guaracha rhythm and lyrics imagining a post-human future, as Meridian Brothers’ Eblis Álvarez explains: “‘Metamorfosis’ explores transhumanism through its main character who imagines waking up in Kafka-esque fashion to find himself turned into a robot. He complains that the world has become robotized, computerized; even intangible things like love and care have become digitized. He prays to the Yoruba deities to save him from this dystopian future of transhumanisation, where technology overtakes humanity. The song ponders if this is inevitable or if there could be a different outcome in our future.”
Of course, we have heard from El Grupo Renacimiento before, as Meridian Brothers released a single with NYC Trust back in 2018, but now we get nine tracks, with Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento set to be released by Ansonia Records, the legendary New York label known for releasing salsa and other diasporic Latin American music in the 60s and 70s. Remarkably this release will be their first new album in 30 years – NB: they have been very busy digitising and reissuing their catalogue of late.
Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento will be released on August 5th. “Metamorfosis” is out now.
Meridian Brothers will be embarking on an extensive US and European tour later this year. Full tour dates are below:
Aug. 6 – Staten Island, NY – SummerStage (with Ana Tijoux)
Aug. 7 – Chicago, IL – LatiNxt Festival
Aug. 10 – Berkeley, CA – Freight & Salvage
Aug. 11 – Pomona, CA – TBA Venue (with Very Be Careful)
Aug. 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Levitt Pavilion (MacArthur Park)
Aug. 14 – Dallas, TX – Wild Detectives
Aug. 16 – Austin, TX – Antone’s
Aug. 17 – New Haven, CT – Café Nine
Aug. 18 – Woodstock, NY – The Colony
Aug. 19 – Florence, MA – Bombyx
Sept. 4 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
Sept. 7 – Tel Aviv, Israel – Barby
Sept. 8 – Lucerne, Switzerland – Industriestrasse
Sept. 10 – Saintes, France – Coconut Festival
Sept. 11 – Ostend, Belgium – Leuffingeleuren Festival
Sept. 13 – Paris, France – La Dynamo
Sept. 14 – Metz, France – Trinitaires
Sept. 15 – Tours, France – Temps machine
Sept. 16 – St. Macaire, France – Staccato
Sept. 20 – Lyon, France – Periscope
Sept. 24 – La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland – Bikini Test
Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp
Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.