Texas song-writing legend Alejandro Escovedo’s new album is out on 14th September on Yep Roc. Recorded in Villafranca, Italy and co-produced with Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Gomez, Iron & Wine), the album is available for pre-order now on CD, double vinyl LP and digital download HERE.
‘Sonica USA’, the first single taken from the album, features Wayne Kramer of MC5 on guitar is out now.
Alejandro has also confirmed a string of UK shows in October and November.
October
Thurs 25th – Newcastle – Gosforth Civic
Fri 26th – Glasgow – Oran Mor
Sat 27th – Sheffield – The Hubs
Sun 28th – Leeds – The Lending Room
Tues 30th – London – Bush Hall
Weds 31st – Bristol – The Tunnels
November
Thurs 1st – Oxford – Bullingdon
Scorching and cinematic ‘The Crossing’ follows the story of two young immigrants, one from Mexico and one from Italy, as they come to the United States to pursue their American dream and in search of their punk rock idols. As Escovedo puts it, the two protagonists, Salvo and Diego, find they have arrived “in a different America, one that’s not as open and free as they believed it was going to be.” Mirroring Alejandro’s own experience as the child of Mexican immigrants, ‘The Crossing’ is a sweeping, epic seventeen-song suite focusing a poignant, sharply honest lens on the issues of our time and navigating cultural identity, minority rights, ancestral weight and racism in this particularly troubled moment.
Not only is it Alejandro’s first album with Yep Roc, it is his first album recorded in Europe. He co-wrote and performed it with Italian band led by Don Antonio from Mogdilana who has a rich musical history of his own in Italy with his cult band Sacri Cuori. The album was recorded in a month in Villafranca, Italy with Brian Deck co-producing. “The thing about Italians and their music is, they’re always reaching for melody. It’s always very romantic, even when it’s tragic” The band also comprises Denis Valentini on bass, Matteo Monti on drums, Gianni Perinelli and Franz Valtieri and on horns plus Nicola Peruch on keyboards.
‘The Crossing’ also features a host of guest musicians, including The Stooges’ James Williamson on Teenage Luggage and Wayne Kramer from the MC5 on ‘Sonica USA’ (both bands are name checked in the album’s lyrics as well). ‘Waiting For Me’ features Peter Perrett and John Perry from The Only Ones, recording together for the first time since 1980. Joe Ely appears on his own track, ‘Silver City’. ‘Rio Navidad,’ a spoken word song about a Texas ranger, was written by novelist and Richmond Fontaine/The Delines’ bandleader Willy Vlautin and read by his bandmate Freddy Trujillo.
Over the course of 15 albums, Alejandro’s been a punk with San Francisco’s legendary, The Nuns, a cowpunk in Rank & File, an unrepentant rocker in Austin’s True Believers and a solo artists since the early 90s collaborating with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, John Cale, Los Lobos, Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey and Chuck Prophet. No Depression declared him ‘Artist of the Decade’ shortly before he was struck down with Hepatitis B, a disease he was finally clear of before the recording of this new album.
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