Magdalena Abrego releases Xolo, her first solo album
Former Deerlady guitarist Magdalena Abrego has released Xolo, recorded in Brooklyn with bass clarinetist Allison Burik and pianist Sonya Belaya. Her first solo album combines several instruments with personal field recordings. Its name refers to a dog associated with the afterlife in Mexican culture, and Abrego links the work to loss and sustaining connections.
Arts··Midday
A Brooklyn recording becomes Abrego’s solo debut
Guitarist Magdalena Abrego released her first solo album, Xolo, on 30 October. Previously a member of Deerlady, a two-person band, she had announced her departure earlier this year. The album was recorded in Brooklyn, New York. Abrego handles voice, guitar, synthesizer, electronics and ocarina, alongside personally significant field recordings. Bass clarinetist Allison Burik and pianist Sonya Belaya are the two other participating musicians.[1], [2]
The title refers to a guide to the afterlife
Xolo is named for the xoloitzcuintli, a dog associated in Mexican culture with passage into the afterlife. Abrego grew up in Chicago with immigrant parents. She studied guitar performance at the New England Conservatory of Music and later taught there. In her explanation of the album, she links loss with the need to preserve connections and with the ways people carry care across generations.[1]
Abrego describes connection as a practice
Abrego says an emphasis on individualism and self-sufficiency can weaken deep connections and make displacement seem inevitable. She describes connection as requiring practice and protection. Publicly processing her experience, she says, pushes against structures that encourage people to bear suffering alone. Her account also turns to inherited gestures: the care people show, actions repeated across generations and what they choose to pass to others.[1]
