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