Antonio Lopez: Here We Are
This album got some well-deserved attention when it was released back in November. Radio stations, local magazines, and community members alike all seemed to appreciate it. The album release party was full of happy people who were tuned in and enthusiastic about the new music from these very well beloved artists.
It’s an album that most of us are probably pretty familiar with at this point.
Antonio Lopez has always been a wonderfully prolific songwriter. What are the first songs I ever heard from his collection of recordings was this song called “Cloud 9000”. It was catchy, it was classy, and it was really well written. I would come to discover, over the next few years that catchy, classy, and skillful would be hallmarks of his art. This latest collection is a continuation of that pattern. The musical sensibilities here are gentle, delicately textured, and idealistically expansive.
Antonio is a very technically skilled player. Often times people will get really good at their instruments, and then sort of forget how normal people listen. They forget how to make it sound good to a person who hasn’t done years and years of studying to refine their pallet. Antonio finds a really good balance here in this album by showing that he can skillfully use different modes and musical approaches that are pleasing for the educated musician while still being engaging and accessible for the average listener. Instead of just cramming a bunch of fancy scales and notes together Antonio really takes time to feel each choice and let notes find melodic, space and emotional weight. His guitar solo on this first track “Getting My Hands Dirty” is a good example of this kind of playing. The choices are entirely based on the context of the song and the emotional space the artist it trying to create.
The rest of that song is beautiful, brilliant, and poignant. It’s full of great little wisdom nuggets ready to be dipped in some goddamn groovy sauce.
Other stand-out tracks from the collection include: Better Days, Something Different, and The Future is Now. If you catch the band at a live show, be sure to snatch up the vinyl version of this record.
Recommended use: while painting a picture of your true love.