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There is no disguising the urgency in the brand new single from Contento. It’s an urgency born from the civil unrest that’s become commonplace these past few years in Latin America, and which has specifically brought the duo’s country, Colombia, to its knees in recent months. Budget cuts that chiefly affect the working class, coupled with ambivalence from those in power, has created a tsunami of distrust and a need to force change that’s only been amplified by the police aggression that protesters have come up against.
This fury is evident in “Sigo Llorando” - just take a look at the lyrics: “Corre, corre, corre que viene la policía; corre, corre, corre que te quieren apagar” (“Run, run, run, the police are coming; run, run, run, they’re going to shut you down”), and can also be felt in the music. Contento made a name for themselves with their signature salsapunk sound, which came alive on their debut album, Lo Bueno Está Aquí, last year. That sound is still alive but has never felt so compelling, the percussive drive, twisted guitars and a synth line that seems to physically pull you in, make “Sigo Llorando” one of the most addictive and heavy tumbaos the twosome have recorded to date. This is salsa dura (hard salsa), hypnotic in its fury, the kind you would find in underground clubs when the genre first formed in New York’s ghettoes in the 70s.
On their latest single Contento raise the tension to the wail of police sirens and the din of cacerolazos (pot-banging protests), yet still manage to keep that salsa beat on the front-foot, driving the message home.
credits
released June 18, 2021
Contento son Paulo Olarte Toro & Sebastián Hoyos Velez
Mastering by Lad Agabekov @ Caduceus Studios
Diseño Gráfico + Ilustraciones Mateo Corral
Paulo and Sano aka CONTENTO had so many friends in common that it was like they knew each other for many years before they
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