Vancouver's Empanadas Ilegales — of Exclaim! New Faves fame — have announced a new live album, Creepy Mambo: Rooftop Sessions, which is previewed today by a new recording of "La Danza Del Vampiro."
Due April 5 via We Are Time, the album follows and builds upon the band's sophomore LP, 2022's Creepy Mambo, capturing the energy of the live show that Empanadas Ilegales — who formed in 2017 amid sweaty, booze-fuelled summer house party jam sessions — have become known for.
Expanding their lineup to a septet, they recorded Creepy Mambo: Rooftop Sessions live on the roof of the Warrington Art Collective. “We were worried about noise complaints, but people came out to the balconies around the rooftop to clap and cheer us on,” vocalist/guitarist Ricardo Perez remembered. “There was amazing energy in the air. When I saw people around us dancing, I just let go.”
“This is our homage to an old school cumbia song from the 1950s by Sonido Verde de Moyobamba," Perez added of the irresistible lead single, one of the three tracks on the album that pay homage to the band's influences. (“Batidora 3 en 1,” “Luna Modular” and “Primera Pachanga en Marte,” are original compositions.)
He continued, "Whenever we travel, we go digging to find music that you can’t hear anywhere else, and when Danny [Hernandez Pinto] went back to Colombia, he found this record. It has a very happy vibe with African beats and a calypso feel that’s not directly a cumbia. Jaimie [Milan] and I always like to have conversations with our guitar solos, so we decided to switch back and forth with different tones and then come together with the new melody we wrote that ends the song. It’s not a conversation anymore because we’re talking at the same time.”
Watch the "La Danza Del Vampiro" video below, where you'll also find the album tracklist.
Creepy Mambo: Rooftop Sessions:
1. La Primera Pachanga en Marte
2. Batidora 3 in 1
3. Luna Modular
4. Lamento de un Galax
5. Tobogan
6. La Danza Del Vampiro
