![]() ![]() Part of this is again the missed opportunity of having a duo and not making the use of any lyrical interplay, but I think it runs a bit deeper - the album seems to want to explore the little tensions in relationships that are often buried just out of picture, especially when they are ending or really should be, the insecurities of infidelity or just thinking that it could be happening, a lingering sense of emotional distance, only further emphasized by how upbeat and chipper many of the arrangements are. ![]() There’s really not a lot more to add - this sort of formula and team-up feels very tried-and-true, and while the two have good chemistry I don’t think they deliver anything that surpasses or transcends expectations, and that led to wonder where there could have been more, and I think it might come in the writing. ![]() And honestly, I like this a decent bit - Leva takes most of the vocal leads although Calcagno’s harmonies are solid, the two have okay interplay, and for a generally warm, pleasantly charming bit of acoustic country folk with familiar melodies and some really nice touches of strings and pedal steel - the fiddle in particular sounds phenomenal - this goes down very easy. Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno - Vivan Leva & Riley Calcagno - yeah, I’m making an effort to get a little more timely with my indie country reviews, so let’s talk about this one! You might recognize Vivian Leva for her 2018 breakthrough that got some critical acclaim from those in the know - deservingly so, I should add, I was late to a lot of projects in 2018 but Time Is Everything is remarkably charming in its bluegrass- and folk-inflected edges - but Riley Calcagno is someone I didn’t recognize apparently he’s a classically trained strings musician, and this is their self-titled team-up. But that being said, I’m inclined to call this great anyway - not only have i heard very little like this, it’s so textured and catchy that I really did enjoy it - light 8/10, you’ve probably missed this one, give it a listen. And sure, nothing wrong with that… but it does lend the album an ambling, scattered quality that can feel a little thematically diffuse. But what caught me off-guard was that this album isn’t just pure atmosphere building - the big strike that can be leveled against a lot of ‘industry lifer’ acts is that even despite being stacked with talent, they can’t often deliver the distinctive, punchier songs that would have gotten them the spotlight, but Genesis proves this band does actually have hooks, and it ends really strongly! Now this would be where I’d go to the writing… and if I were to highlight a weakness on this album, it’d probably come with the lyrics, which circle a lot of mystical, quasi-psychedelic traditions in finding connection to the land that add some literary texture of a lot of moments that are considerably more lewd. The percussion is by far the biggest draw in its texture, but the angular guitar phrases lean into the peculiar atmosphere remarkably well, and while I did find myself wishing the basslines were a little bit more defined in the mix, I was shocked by how well the synths blended to create the uncanny, psychedelic atmosphere, well accented by the husky interplay of Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan. Anyway, I checked out their debut, mostly liked it, and found the textures intriguing enough to give this album a shot and… yeah, I wound up liking this a lot! Again, half the appeal of an act like this comes in its description: imagine the intersection between late 80s progressive rock, sophisipop, and the snarled side of the late Ennio Morricone, or if Muse played ‘Knights Of Cydonia’ completely straight instead of a manic pastiche, it’s worth hearing because you won’t hear anything else like it in 2021… but even beyond novelty there’s a lot to appreciate. The other thing to highlight is that many of these guys are industry lifers - their drummer worked with Alice Cooper and Bob Dylan in the 90s - so it has the feel of ‘we’ve been playing alongside folks for a while, done a ton of session work, let’s venture into our own weird territory’. The easy way to describe XIXA is to call them ‘desert rock’, but their melodic tones and especially their rhythm section are soaked in prog-adjacent psychedelia based off a Peruvian style of cumbia called chicha - and when you consider that two of their members were once in the long-running and utterly warped Howie Gelb project Giant Sand, that might give you a bit of an idea where their sound lies. XIXA - Genesis - Okay, I’ve been sitting on this one longer than I’ve wanted, but really, when the sound here is so distinct, I knew I couldn’t wait much longer. ![]()
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