Invigorating and eclectic new tracks that invite listeners to a celebration that mixes rock, electronica, hip-hop, Latin rhythm and some pots and pans with lyrics influenced by deep observations of the superficiality of day to day exchanges.
On their third album REINA, Kinky turn chaos into a grand celebration as they conquer mudslides, floods and collapsing houses to produce their most exciting album yet. After touring the world in support of their last album, Atlas, Kinky was in need of some peace and relaxation; they had been leading a life of extremities. How extreme? One night they’d sleep in an alley outside of a stadium in Italy, and the next they’d be hanging out in a luxury hotel in front of the Kaula Lumpur Towers. One minute they’d be chowing down on tacos outside of a tavern in Tijuana, and the next they’d be drinking champagne with INXS and Gloria Gainer on a first class flight to Indonesia.
When it came time to refocus their energy on the new album, the band decided to move away from their dry hot home of Monterrey, Mexico. They packed their bags and set out for the lush mountains of Southern California, where they set up shop in a hillside cabin. Once Kinky were settled and ready to start writing, they noticed the so-called “beautiful” Southern California weather was not all sunshine and blue skies. Instead, it was intense and incessant rain that caused huge mudslides and severe floods, destroying anything that got in its way. “We were so caught up in the recording process that we had no idea all of our neighbors had been evacuated. A house right down the street had collapsed from the storm,” recalls bassist Cesar Pliego.
One particular day, the band could no longer remain unaware of the chaos outside. As they were in the midst of a daily recording session, a mud avalanche entered from the back of their studio into the living room where they had set up their instruments. Guitars, drums and keyboards were all covered in a mass of mud and debris. Refusing to give up and determined to continue on the creative path they were already so immersed in, the band immediately went into action. Drummer Omar Gongora remembers the dilemma, “We had to rebuild all of our instruments, using our Mexican way, utilizing whatever was readily available; clips, duck tape, random scraps of metal, branches, just about anything we could get our hands on.”
As they quickly got back to the recording process, the idea for the album title, REINA emerged. Lead vocalist Gilberto Cerezo explains, “For us, working inside a studio completely covered in mud, was like being part of a great celebration inside a big chocolate cake. We thought of the Mexican Quinceanera parties where parents expend massive amounts of money for their daughters fifteenth birthday parties and the girls dress up in huge and very uncomfortable dresses just to be the REINA (Queen) for one day.”
The results of recording throughout the mad So Cal weather are 12 invigorating and eclectic new tracks that invite listeners to a celebration that mixes rock, electronica, hip-hop, Latin rhythm and some pots and pans with lyrics influenced by deep observations of the superficiality of day to day exchanges. With guest appearances by Men At Work front man Colin Hay, Mexican alternative rock singer Ely Guerra, and Intocable’s accordion player Rick Munoz, Kinky present Reina.
Album opener “Sister Twisted” invites you on to the dance floor with its playful and bouncy beat, and the high-speed song “Again And So On” speaks of looking for the differences in each day so life doesn’t get monotonous,
The kick-back track “Monday Killer” suggests staying in bed all day with your lover and wasting the day away, while the beat-driven "A Donde Van Los Muertos,” the most romantic track on the album, speaks of death but as an expression of love.
Having completed their recording sessions, Kinky—lead vocalist Gilberto Cerezo, keyboardist Ulises Lozano, guitarist Carlos Chairez, bassist Cesar Pliego and drummer Omar Gongora--are anxious to kick it into gear and hit the road this fall. the band is eager to set a whole new array of dance floors a-fire.
