Tonight’s selection from Hermanos Gutiérrez’s sixth album, 2024’s Sonido Cósmico. Spacious, cinematic instrumentals by Ecuadorian-Swiss brother duo Alejandro Gutiérrez and Estevan Gutiérrez.
Hermanos Gutiérrez is an Ecuadorian-Swiss sibling duo consisting of brothers Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez. They have gained recognition for their instrumental compositions with a unique sound, often compared to the soundtrack of spaghetti westerns. Their music is deeply rooted in their Latin heritage, and with each album, they delve deeper into the soundscapes of the past, paying homage to their roots while forging a path uniquely their own. Sonido Cósmico stands as a testament to Hermanos Gutiérrez’s growth and experimentation as artists. The album’s title, which translates to “Cosmic Sound,” hints at a duality explored throughout its tracks. The album creates an immersive interstellar experience, blending various instruments and rhythms to transport listeners to a new, imaginative realm. The duo’s signature guitar lines remain central to this release, enhanced by new elements that expand their sonic reach. — The Fire Note
Low Sun
Hermanos Gutiérrez songs often meet with stereotypical descriptors of “cinematic,” “experimental,” or “psychedelic” — and they are! But those words don’t fully convey the nuance of the music, which is sparse, yet rich in dynamics, with melodies memorable enough for listeners to hum along with. On Sonido Cósmico, the brothers also integrate organs and synthesizers throughout, as well as a standout wah pedal effect on songs like “Cumbia Lunar” and “Barrio Hustle” and orchestral-like strings on the title track.
Although instrumental records can be difficult for many lyrics-centric listeners to tap into, Sonido Cósmico is a remarkably visual album. Both the English and Spanish language song titles, like the opening “Lágrimas Negras” (“Black Tears”) and closing “Misterio Verde” (“Green Mystery”), seem to serve as portals for the imagination. Additionally, Hermanos Gutiérrez keep these tracks around the same length as other “popular” songs with lyrics, making them easy to focus on instead of banishing them to the muzak abyss.
By combining elements of Latin American percussion (like bongos, maracas, and claves) and forms like cumbias, salsas, and milongas, Sonido Cósmico stands firmly in the realm of roots music. Plus, the brothers keep remarkable rhythmic time together, for as Auerbach has been known to quip, “They are Swiss.” Together, these multicultural sounds and themes of spiritual and psychic connection showcase how Hermanos Gutiérrez’s contemporary, instrumental music exemplifies the widening umbrella of roots music. — No Depression
Sonido Cósmico
‘Low Sun’ is perhaps the best of the bunch, with its steel guitar melodies conjuring scenes of rippling heatwaves flickering among cacti; the setting sun slowly disappearing beyond the desert dust, the never-ending highway vanishing into night. ‘Until We Meet Again’ forms the only outlier of the record, with its hopeful feel, intertwining riffs and subtly fluctuating delays and reverbs evoking a harmonic sense of connection among the otherwise cosmic album.
This aura is typified by the album’s title track. Patient additions of layers, textures and effects including brooding vibrato, spacey phasers and gorgeously delicate string arrangements give an almost sci-fi like feel to the sonic palette. Its accompanying music video is straight out of the Sergio Leone spaghetti western handbook, with slow camera pans and grainy film visuals paired with scenes of glistening butterscotch Gretsch guitars and a few UFOs for good, extraterrestrial measure.
While mostly pensive throughout, each moment on ‘Sonido Cosmico’ feels different from the other; each picture evoking something different from the imagination. It’s hard to find a track not to like here. It’s also no surprise that the duo are touring with Khruangbin this year – their album flows with the same ease that their counterparts have mastered. But most impressive of all, the fact that two brothers create music of such depth playing nothing but their own guitars is astonishing.
If you fancy an exploration of the cosmos in desert guitar form, look no further. — Clash Music
Barrio Hustle
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It's All in Your Mind
“Low Sun,” the album’s second track, is a perfect example. This is a fully fleshed-out, delicately produced musical concept, in that it doesn’t rely on the empty space in the studio for its ambience (a common approach on the band’s earlier albums). Hearkening back to some of Ry Cooder’s film work—in particular “Theme from Southern Comfort” and “Nice Bike”—it rises and falls and rises, Alejandro’s slide guitar providing streaks of color and wistful tones throughout. “It’s All in Your Mind,” with its innately hummable yet unmistakable forlorn hook, features plenty of subtle interplay between the brothers’ layered guitar lines. And “Sonido Cósmico” is a tense, propulsive track that threatens to break wide open and spill all over the floor at any second, but never quite does.
By contrast, the album ends with a leaner, more introspective diptych that feels like a return to the more basic, elemental sound of their earlier records. “Luz y Sombra” is spare and resonant, eerie and lovely all at once, and you can almost hear the coyote howling in the distance of a cold winter evening in the desert. “Misterio Verde” is a little quicker, the pace kept by the chunking of muted guitar strings. It all has the feel of the closing credits sequence to a Sergio Leone film.
With Sonido Cósmico, Hermanos Gutiérrez have taken a significant step forward in their approach to writing and recording. It’s an album that may take a few listens to burrow its way into your subconscious, but rest assured, it will. — Spectrum Culture
Until We Meet Again
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Misterio Verde
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