By José Gandue @spinning zone Photos by Laura Echavarria
Let's say it from the start: This is how birds speak, new album from the Colombian group Mad Tree, regardless of the fact that we are just closing the month of April, It already enters the short list of the best albums of the year. It's a beautiful album, meticulously crafted down to the last detail, that seeks to move and shake the heart and succeeds, and, moreover, exudes honesty in its construction., because there is more effort in creating an extraordinary work than in conforming to market rules.
If you don't know them, well, here's the basic information: Mad Tree is A Bogota rock band founded in 2013 by Sebastián Izáciga (Vocals and Guitar) and Nicolás Gutiérrez (Drums). In the ten years of its existence, the group has released three full-length albums, One Hundredth Human (2016), Ether (2019) and the recently released one on digital platforms, This is how birds speak.They have performed at renowned festivals such as Vive Latino 2019 (Mexico City), Grito Latino 2019 (San José, Costa Rica), Rock al Parque 2018 (Bogotá), and Décimo Concierto Radiónica (Bogotá). As a fun fact, their song Desert, included in his previous work, Our documentary, "Distrital y Popular," about Rock al Parque, concludes., which you can find on the Zonagirante.com homepage (sorry for the advertising, we couldn't pass up the opportunity).
To get to the point, how do we justify all the praise we presented at the beginning of the article? Let's start by saying that Their tunes are well-rounded, but that doesn't mean they can be considered simplistic or pandering to lazy ears. These compositions strive to craft a moving melody and instrumentation that creates anticipation, drama, and euphoria. The production is solid, and the mixing has been meticulously crafted. Izáciga's voice is both powerful and tender, captivating and delivering her message flawlessly. To top it all off, this album contains some of the best guitar work in the recent history of Colombian rock.
What does this album sound like to us? Playing at identifying influences, We can affirm that we notice moments from Argentine rock of the nineties, moments that remind us of Seattle music from three decades ago and certain moments of British rock from the seventies. The most outstanding pieces, in our opinion, of This is how birds speak are: Grounds (a beautiful ballad currently being used for promotion in the media), The tyranny of the masses (an intense instrumental recording of just two minutes and 22 seconds), and The eternal return (The album's final track, a brilliant interplay of piano, vocals, and reverberations, leaves the listener blissfully exhausted. Likewise, The album lasts half an hour, so there's no excuse not to listen to (and enjoy) it in its entirety.
I repeat, this is a great production that is not to be missed.
