RENE LOPEZ 

‘Let’s be Strangers Again’ EP

Released October 7

& Supporting Joseph Arthur on tour

Nuyorican artist Rene Lopez is set to release his EP Let’s Be Strangers Again on October 7th.  This release will coincide with his support slot on Joseph Arthur’s European tour, which will include three dates in the UK on October 9, 10 & 11.

Influenced by salsa, Brazilian music from the 70s (Jorge Ben, Tim Maia), samba rock, meringue, soul and old school hip hop, Rene’s music sounds warmly familiar — the sounds you’d likely hear coming from car stereos and apartments in Jackson Heights, Corona, Spanish Harlem, the Lower East Side (pre 1995 or so), and of the South Bronx. It’s a loving homage to the seemingly universally beloved sounds of Latino New York but with a modern re-interpretation through some playfully inventive genre mashing. The melodies manage to swing and saunter with an amiable charming swagger, much like Lopez himself. He manages to deftly, but subtly blur the traditional lines of genre:

“NYC is such a melting pot. One of my favorite things to do is to just walk around this city where the people influence me everyday. The different music I hear from neighborhood to neighborhood…you go into my neighborhood where I have my studio in Williamsburg and all you hear blaring out of the windows is merengue. Just the diversity of New York influences me so much.”

The arrangements on compositions such as the instrumental, summer jam-like Come Along Now are stripped down to just live instrumentation. And yet the composition doesn’t lose its complexity. With a smoove but funky groove, the song possesses elements of 70s soul and samba rock. It’s the sound of hanging out at a Saturday afternoon barbecue, while you chat up that fine young thang from up the street. 

Watch Rene perform Don't You Change Your Heart, taken from the new EP, below. 

Let’s Be Strangers Again - EP Track listing:

1. Come Along Now / 2. Don’t You Change Your Heart / 3. Midnight Love / 4. Hey Papa / 5. Let’s Be Strangers Again

Having performed with Joseph Arthur for many years, Rene is now confirmed as the main support on the following Joseph Arthur headline dates:

Date                 City/Country                             Venue

October 
Fri 4                 Alençon, FR                              La Luciole
Sun 6              Amsterdam, NL                        Paradiso
Tue 8               Brussels, BEL                           Ancienne Belgique
Wed 9             Leicester, UK                          The Musician
Thu 10            Bristol,UK                               Grain Barge
Fri 11              London, UK                             Heath Street Baptist Church

Sat 12              Petit Quevilly, FR

Wed 16            Paris, FR (Mama Festival)          Divan Du Monde 

Thu 17             Saint Flour, FR                          Théâtre le Rex
Fri 18               Montpellier, FR (Festival de la Guitare)  Rockstore 
Sat 19              Marseille, FR                             le Poste à Galène
Wed 23            Zurich, CH                                Bogen
Thu 24             Dornbirn, AUS                          Conrad Sohm 
Sat 26              Vienna, Austria                         Porgy & Bess 
Sun 27             Inssbruck, Austria                    Treibhaus 
Wed 30            S. Benedetto del Tronto , IT     Teatro
Thu 31             Fontanellato, IT                       Teatro Comunale 
November
Fri 1                 Brescia, IT                                Latteria Molloy 
Mon 4               Frankfurt, D                              Brotfabrik
Tue 5               Berlin, D                                   Privatclub 
Wed 6              Leipzig,                                    Connewitz
Thu 7               Dresden, D                               Scheune
Fri 8                 Duisburg, D                              Steinbruch
Sat 9                Münster, D                               Gleis22

For more information please contact Nienke.klop@all-press.co.uk / 07931 557 970

Or visit: http://www.renelopez.com/   &   http://kingofnewyork.tumblr.com/

RENE LOPEZ BIOG

Growing up near New York in a small town and visiting the city for his musician father’s shows, Rene spent his childhood and adolescence on the cusp of diverse city living and rural relaxation.

“I grew up around salsa musicians so that was always a part of my world whether I was at a party or if I was at the club late night with my mom and dad. I absorbed the music. When we moved from the Bronx to Rockland County, I grew up in a neighborhood where all of the kids were listening to rock and roll which influenced me greatly as a drummer.”

Rene explained how the fusion of his father’s taste in salsa and jazz combined along with his interest in pop, rock and roll, and Prince piqued his interest in creating his own sounds. “My father started playing a lot of jazz records for me at home and I started getting into playing bebop.”

“As a child, my fathers music totally influenced what I am doing now. I am going back and all I do is listen to those records as well as boogaloo. Even though I am not a salsa musician, it plays a huge role in the music I am making now,” Rene said.

“I think on all of my records I am constantly searching within myself. I was going through some of my past records and listened to “I know what I see” and thought to myself that it sounded very Americana. I was being honest with myself and really digging deep to play what I thought was true. but now, I feel really happy and very grounded with the music that comes out of me.”

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