CorderoMedia Kit

While Ani Cordero and husband Chris Verene (formerly of The Rock*A*Teens) are best known for their critically acclaimed, tension-laden independent rock, with De donde eres, the band has taken a side-route away from the anxious and angular sounds of En Este Momento or Lamb Lost in the City. De donde eres finds Cordero further exploring the rhythmic intricacies of Latin music while turning down the guitar amps for a much more quiet and inward set of songs. Ani's ever-nimble guitar patterns are threaded around Latin percussion, pulsing bass notes and bright horn lines as the band wrings a both-sides-of-the-border mystery out of gentle melodies that pay tribute to forebears such as Nick Drake, Belle and Sebastian, and Os Mutantes.

Thematically, De donde eres runs the gamut of emotions. While many songs—such as the ruminative "Guardasecretos" find Cordero exploring the internal experience, album starter "Quique" is an immediate call to the dance floor, shot through with equal servings of melancholy and exuberant hopefulness. "La Yegua" ("The Mare") is a powerful statement of women's independence, staking out a place somewhere between "brave", "wild" and "fierce", while "Ruleta Rusa" ("Russian Roulette") castigates the greed of the profit-driven corporations and governments.