Coming on the heels of their triumphant collaboration with Dean Owens, Calexico returns with the video for their new single ‘El Mirador’. The song is the title track from their new album that will be released on April 8th, 2022. Sung in both English and Spanish the song is drenched in the sounds of cumbia and mariachi that evoke the rough-hewn deserts of Northern Mexico as they meld into the American Southwest. Directed by Elefanto for Mero Estudio in Medellín Columbia, the video is an animated peyote dream of vibrant purples and blues as the main character rides on horseback through a forlorn desert and swims in an endless ocean looking for ‘El Mirador’ – ‘The Lookout’.
This is the tenth studio album from Joey Burns and John Convertino. Convening at longtime bandmate Sergio Mendoza’s home studio in Tucson, Arizona, ‘El Mirador’ was recorded throughout the summer of 2021, crafting one of their most riveting and whimsical productions to date. Convertino, who now resides in El Paso, and Burns, who relocated to Boise in 2020, channeled cherished memories of Southwestern landscapes and joyful barrio melting pots into an evocative love letter to the desert borderlands that nourished them for over 20 years.
“El Mirador is dedicated to family, friends and community,” says Burns; singer, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of Calexico. “The pandemic highlighted all the ways we need each other, and music happens to be my way of building bridges and encouraging inclusiveness and positivity. That comes along with sadness and melancholy, but music sparks change and movement.”
Burns and Convertino have been performing together for over 30 years, sharing a deep love of jazz and usually building songs on a foundation of bass and drums. But all these years later, Calexico is still breaking new ground. ‘El Mirador’ showcases a sunnier side of the band, cutting through two years of pandemic fog with a blast of danceable optimism.
The deserts of Arizona are full of beauty and mystery and Calexico has created a soundscape and music video that captures both.
