House of Wolves

The third album from singer songwriter Rey Villalobos’ solo project House of Wolves holds a certain evolution which leads him to shake some of the intimate codes that he had cleverly put in place until now to densify his words. This luxury showcase, where a romantic string quartet perfectly balances rougher guitars, reveals even more the incredible and unprecedented possibilities of Villalobos’ voice that whispers and screams in the same intonation. The more discreet use of the piano melts into a larger instrumental collective, introducing lyrical and orchestrated pieces to the background of rustic folk.

From the outset, the introductory ‘I'm Here You're There’ sets the scene: the contribution of the string quartet as well as the affirmation of a more marked rhythm section widen our field of vision to take us to much larger countries. ‘Firefly’ is a sweet ritornello of a stunning classicism, ‘Alabama’ tenderly nods to the blooming roots of America while ‘Keep All Your Lovers’, set in controlled tension, resuscitates the soul of the native of Nebraska in all its forms. The compositions touch on a sort of abstraction of the bucolic American song, and evoke some kind of a kind of lingua franca americana. Weightlessness and heaviness come intertwined on ‘Darkness’, giving the ensemble an intoxicating and addictive atmosphere. ‘Love is a War’ illustrates a meeting with landscapes through warlike memories, and the sixties vocal tremor of "Oh You Little One" encouraging acrobatics between austerity and refinement.