What does Aluminé Guerrero & El Búho sound like?

Downtempo Cumbian rhythms with modern folktronica electronics.

The review of ‘Patagonia Patagonia’ by Aluminé Guerrero & El Búho

Marking a collaboration between Aluminé Guerrero & El Búho, the pair bring together various elements of South American “Cumbia” music. El Búho usually produces instrumental music, or at least music without a lead vocal, whereas Argentinian musician Aluminé Guerrero brings her smooth voice to the production. It’s a beautiful EP that provides the most mainstream downtempo sound either artist has perhaps created to date.

‘Bonita’ opens the record with a perky mix of rhythmic shakers, bird song, and forest ambience. The focus of this EP is firmly on Patagonia and how fragile its ecosystem currently is. This opening piece focuses on its beauty. From the peppy, staccato vocals to its trickle of shakers and thin beats, the song sounds like morning dawn. Elements of psychedelic synths spiral out like flexible waveforms reaching for the sky. It’s just a happy little song, and a grower rather than a shower. ‘Fuego y Cenizas’ brings Rodrigo Gallardo in as guest vocalist to duet with Guerrero. Between moments of vocodered vocals, a shuffle beat lets a rich arrangement of flutes and other wind instruments sweep across the speakers. It is an incredibly graceful track, and one that feels like a slow-motion swim through paradise. The synths are balmy yet ephemeral. The beat is slow and steady. Each element grazes over the other to create a mournful, introspective respect for the Patagonian forest the track sings of.

‘Balliando’ switches tone from the warning of fire to the freedom and joy of the wind spirit. Complete with a quickfire rap bridge, this track feels the most like a campfire song from the past. The chorus is intensely catchy, from Guerrero’s high-register “oohs” after declaring why she’s dancing, to the repetition of ‘Balliando’ over the top of them. Add in plenty of plucked and strummed instrumentation, a skippity-clap-clap beat, and you have an uplifting banger. Taking us off the dancefloor and into the realm of dreams, ‘Vamos al Sauce (ft. Montoya)’ closes the EP with the fastest tempo, but the most dreamy ambience. Extended instrumentals led by flutes and rolling drum loops, largely made of wooden sticks, led the way for this groove-infested finale. When the vocals hit, the song pulls back to an aural cloud of synths. The lyrics sing of the moon and how it pulls the tide in and out.

As Aluminé Guerrero & El Búho traverse the Southern Cone of South America, you can hear influences from different regions and countries seep through in the instrumentation and lyrics. Whilst these communities are often at the forefront of climate change and political unrest, the message here is one largely of hope and appreciation. Appreciation for the natural Earth around us. Hope that we can live in a more compatible way to let nature and humanity thrive. A reminder that your spirit can live rent-free in the forest. Aluminé Guerrero & El Búho have created an uplifting gem. If you have never tried South American nu-cumbia or folktronica, this is probably the most Westernised and immediate release by one of the greats in the genre to date. It’s a great introduction to a genre I’ve come to adore over the last decade.

Recommended track: Bailando

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