Rolling Stone

ROLLING STONE PRAISES ATERCIOPELADOS
'RIO' IN ADVANCE OF ITS RELEASE NEXT WEEK

"A Spanish-language Patti Smith, Colombia's Andrea Echeverri offers prayers for the polluted Bogotá River over the sultry, syncopated funk rock of "Río"... Girl's got flow, like Rio itself."
- ROLLING STONE
Spanish speakers: Watch Andrea Echeverri and Hector Buitrago
discuss their new album 'Río'

Rolling Stone has praised Aterciopelados highly-anticipated new album, 'Río', a week before its October 21 st release. The album is still available for a special iTunes pre-order where fans will immediately get an exclusive track, entitled "Errante Diamante", as well as the album's self-titled first single, "Río". "Errante Diamante" (Wandering Diamond) is the theme song behind "Destierro y Reparacion" (Exile and Reparation), a Colombian project focused on educational and cultural activities that will help generate an overall social consciousness about the true implications of forced displacement and how it affects the country's entire society.
'Río' finds the band aggressively building upon the creative momentum of 'Oye' , the critically-acclaimed album that won them a Latin GRAMMY, Premio Lo Nuestro and several other prestigious award. TIME said, "Aterciopelados's true skill lies in its ability to take north-of-the-border musical styles... and breathe new life into them, all while giving them a distinctly Colombian sheen."
'Río' is evidence that, as VIBE put it, "For Aterciopelados, maturity has become a form of liberation." The album was recorded in the band's hometown of Bogotá and mixed by Héctor Castillo (Brazilian Girls, David Bowie, Gustavo Cerati) in New York City. It is an impassioned, socially conscious record with the group's signature organic rock sound.
The album's opener and first single is the title track, a call to action that finds Aterciopelados at a new level of creativity and musicality. It coincides with a proposed Colombian constitutional referendum that declares the country's bodies of water deserve basic rights. "When I was growing up, the Bogotá River was considered a mythic and iconic place, and now it's a tiny stream," says singer Andrea Echeverri. "Musically and lyrically, the track 'Río' is unlike any previous Aterciopelados song. I'm even singing in a different way than in the past. With this one, we reached an entirely new place."
Aterciopelados plan to tour the U.S. in support of 'Río' in early 2009, following the recent birth of Andrea Echeverri's second child. The band completed a European tour this past summer with her pregnant belly proudly displayed.
The longtime creative relationship between Echeverri and Buitrago proves to be the source for the Aterciopelados' musical genius. "We have had quite a musical career, which has evolved over the years through our own identity search and experimentation, finding our own sound," Echeverri says. "I do some things, like writing the songs and he does the other things, such as producing and imagining the musical vision for the song. We really complement each other musically in a way that works. And more important than anything, we have love and respect for each other."