RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

The duo that proved it's possible to rock out on nylonstring guitars returns with a new concept album, inspired by immersing themselves in the spiritual discipline of non-dualism

- David Mead

The new album, In Between Thoughts… A New World, is Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero’s most ambitious project to date, with orchestral textures embroidered onto their unique blend of flamenco ’n’ roll guitar arrangements. It’s been a heady few years that has seen the pair winning a Grammy for 2019 album, Mettavolution, and working with composer Hans Zimmer on soundtracks to Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Puss In Boots. Not to mention their invitation from Barack Obama to perform at The White House back in 2010.

Live performances of the material are set to be accompanied by specially commissioned visuals as well as string players to embellish the music. It’s destined to be a very elaborate affair and when we tuned into our video call to their studios in Ixtapa, Mexico, our first question addressed the music’s widescreen feel…

The new album has a very cinematic feel to it. Was this something that you had in mind for the record during the initial writing process?

Rodrigo: “Well, it’s because it is kind of a soundtrack, really. We came up with a story, which is based on the topic of non-dualism, and we created a character in our heads. Actually, I think Gab wrote the story of this character. Eventually, we want to be able to do visuals for the whole album.”