Adán Jodorowsky and Xavi Polycarpe, one of the most exciting pairings of 2016, made a revelatory album earlier this year, featuring acoustic jams sung in Spanish and English. After recording a raw album straight to 8-track, the duo is following up their self-titled record with a new EP that gives love to some of the legends who unite the two musicians.
On The Paris-New York Sessions, the pair reworks three artists that might sound pretty different from each other on paper: ‘80s soft rock duo The Alessi Brothers, Argentine rock legends Sui Generis, and the OG John Lennon. Although each come from different eras or regions, Adan & Xavi find plenty of common ground to bring them home, and make it clear that their collaboration shares spiritual roots with each of these artists.
The set opens with “Woman,” the immortal track by Lennon. Although the EP was not recorded at a castle like their debut full-length, the “Woman” cover was taped at an oddly appropriate location: the apartment the ex-Beatle once shared with his partner Yoko Ono in SoHo.
Meanwhile, “Seabird” locks in the yacht rock vibes and brings it close to the spirit of the original. Finally, “Canción Para Mi Muerte” brings the Charly García-penned track from his band’s 1974 debut Vida to life without any radical changes. The track was written when García was hospitalized after an overdose, and the words ring as loudly as they did back then.
Adan & Xavi have enough classic rock sensibilities in their music to bring out the primal influences of these songs while layering them attractively, thanks to the lush instrumentation. The vibe is easygoing yet meticulous in its execution. With this small follow-up to their own compositions, they might be signaling a reinterpretation of soft rock for the new millennium without resorting to cheesiness.