Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Tychozorente Review

For one of the most experimental and explosive songwriters to appear over the past couple decades, multi-instrumentalist Omar Rodriguez Lopez has clearly made a name for himself in this generation of music. From his early start in the hardcore/alternative rock group At The Drive-In, to his departure with musical partner Cedric Bixler-Zavala to explore the musical realms of psychedelic and progressive rock with The Mars Volta and beyond, Rodriguez Lopez has made an impressive track record, which will now include, his seventeenth solo album, Tychozorente.

Tychozorente makes such a departure from any of Rodriguez Lopez’s previous music projects by the fact that this is his first release without any guitars whatsoever. In addition to this, it is also a first for his girlfriend, Ximena Sarinana Rivera, to sing in English. Her vocals are still as beautiful as ever in the electronic, synth-programmed tracks that appear on Tychozorente. The eight tracks are shared equally, as they go from Ximena songs (in English as well as Spanish) to Rodriguez Lopez's spoken word Spanish compositions, and back again. There are some very eerie frequencies that resonate through some songs, while others take on an exceptionally melodic and upbeat tone when compared to some of Rodriguez Lopez’s previous output as a songwriter and producer. Every song has a steady rhythm since this album focuses more on produced electronic beats than the standard music group that Rodriguez Lopez assembles for his many different projects. Overall, at just over a half hour, this new release by Rodriguez Productions is a very enjoyable, and mellow, musical journey. The cover art is compelling and as weird as usual, echoing the wash of sound that is to be heard when listening to Omar’s work.

Check Tychozorente out, and stay tuned for more Rodriguez Lopez in the very near future, because two more albums will be dropping before the end of the year. Cheers!

Tychozorente - 7.6/10