[Cover photo credit to Lisa Johnson]
Two-time Grammy Award winning, Los Angeles-based band, Ozomatli have announced new album Marching On for 2022 which will be their debut with Blue Élan Records. The single “Sacude” is out now, bringing a further preview of the new collection.
Vocalist Asdru Sierra explains the meaning behind the new single:
’Sacude’ is a song about shaking off toxicity. Poetically it describes how the guy in the band that plays maracas has something strange in his instrument that rattles funny and throws off his groove. The maracas are like an extension of our souls in this case. At first a guy in the band that’s his friend tells him there’s something off with him. He points out that he is sick with toxicity and he’s worried. But he needs to deal with it. Then during the chorus, the pregones are the maraca player expelling his toxicity. We all have toxicity in our lives, whether it’s from other people or our own addictions or insecurities, everyone has experienced toxicity. So, we all aim to clean out our maracas to get rid of whatever makes it sound bad to continue grooving.
Last year, the band debuted two new singles from the album including “Mi Destino,” featuring guests B-Real (Cypress Hill/Prophets of Rage) and “Fellas” which features Lisa Lisa of Cult Jam fame and the ladies of J.J. Fad.
Produced by David Garza (Fiona Apple), the album features the six core members: Asdru Sierra (lead vocals, trumpet, keyboards), Raul Pacheco (lead vocals, guitar), Willy (Wil-Dog) Abers (bass, vocals), Justin Poree (rap, vocals, percussion), Ulises Bella (saxophone, melodica, clarinet, guitar, requinto, keyboards, vocals) and Jiro Yamaguchi (drums, percussion) as well as the previously mentioned special guests.
While the basic tracks were all completed at Sonic Ranch, due to the pandemic, other parts of the record were completed remotely. No matter the circumstances, Ozomatil continues to be driven to make music. “The song is kind of like a sacred responsibility,” concludes Raul Pacheco, “It takes hard core passion to push whatever the song is to the best it could be. I take it very personally.”
