Ecuadorian heavyweights Guardarraya are back with a preview of their successfully crowdfunded new album, follow up to 2009’s “Quitaran di ahi”. Their sound, a mix of traditional Ecuadorian music and alternative rock influence is strong as ever.
“Samba Surreal” brings the spotlight on the traditional with prominent acoustic guitars, some of which play “requintos” (high pitched, repetitive strums that accentuate the hasty rhythmical structure of traditional Latin-American music), accompanied by the Andean bombo as the main percussion.
New to their live show is the presence of a synthesizer, which helps cement some of the atmosphere of the song. Towards the end of the song, the band lets loose, and, after an energetic vocal bridge, breaks out the rock instrumentation for a true scorcher of an ending.
Guardarraya’s new album is expected to be a smash hit among the local populace, whose energy during most of the band’s live shows is truly a sight to behold. The bring a twist to the sounds that most of us grew up with, which is why the band finds it appropriate to call their type of music “visceral”, for it is something that their audience feels at their core.
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