Xixa - Genesis

Genesis is a visceral listen, and very much formed by aesthetics. It's also transportive; entire worlds can be painted with Lopez and Sullivan's voices and lyrical content. Edgar Allan Poe, 70s Spaghetti Westerns, and Narco cumbia are all influences; so too are chicha legends Los Shapis. A sense of foreboding hangs over the ten tracks, of danger foretold. All of this lends the music a somber mood and gives it an edge, as if some unseen menace lurks in the shadows. But these songs also represent something else. They are the distillation of everything that makes Xixa who they are and informed by the band's rich history as songwriters and storytellers. Rhythmically complex, and laced with timeless melodies, Genesis is by turns catchy, mysterious, and intense. Sullivan sings like Leonard Cohen re-imagined as a desert outlaw, and many tracks have a widescreen, cinematic feel - like Ennio Morricone infused with an inky gothic horror.