“I remember playing my grandfather’s old guitar, tuneless, and the haunting sound that it made…”
Nostalgia is at the heart of the music Bruno Nunes Coelho (Ana, Constantina) makes under as El Conejo, a project inspired by the first chords he played on his grandfather’s old guitar and the memories of the places he has lived. After a self-titled debut in 2015, he returns this spring with a mesmerizing second outing entitled ‘Tempestade Tropical‘ which focuses in particular on a short time spent living in the city of Rio de Janeiro and the loss of his father during that period. While many of us might associate Rio with the spectacle of its dramatic vistas, sprawling diversity, and colorful festivals, Coelho, turns inward to gently explore the immutable cycles of life universal to all places as well as his own memories and losses.
“Oh, sweetheart, I do belong here where the repetition is beautiful.I have this feeling, nostalgia, I think you can call it that. It reminds me of something. Something that I’ve been missing but I can’t tell exactly what it is. This feeling keeps coming back, like a loop. And it’s beautiful…and sad. And it’s beautiful, and sad, and beautiful, and sad.” – Bruno Nunes Coelho aka El Conejo
As a preview of the album, you can hear his sparsely beautiful, atmospheric lo-fi style and articulate guitar work in the lovely “Peixe de Água Doce” in this exclusive premiere.
Links: Bandcamp (digital/streaming) | La Petite Chambre Records
The song characterizes Coelho’s method of effectively evoking sentimentality in an indirect and organic way with his various instruments, loops, and discrete field recordings. Like his leporine avatar, he is ever the keen observer attuned to the flora & fauna that surrounds him – cicadas, butterflies, hummingbirds, fish, frogs, mangos, and gardens, and tropical storms. The album paints a warm and sentimental portrait rooted in a sense of place and time. As the final track fades, in the distance we can finally hear the sounds of the famous Carnival, but it is far removed from the personal, oneiric world he has let us into with this beautiful record.
Tempestade Tropical will be available March 15 as a digital release from La Petite Chambre Records. Artwork by Bruno Nunes Coelho.
Stationary Travels 