Local Releases

Austin breakout stars Black Pumas release tasteful sophomore album to immediate acclaim

Black Pumas Chronicle of a Diamond imagery

Black Pumas are on a roll, and Chronicles of a Diamond looks like it'll keep them on it.

Photo by Jesse Lirola

If the Austin music scene had a Spider-Man, it'd be Adrian Quesada. The man is everywhere; He has his boots on the ground with more than 150 production credits and success with Latin psych band Grupo Fantasma, and regularly stops by charity events to perform. But he's most powerful when you don't see his name: in the duo Black Pumas.

The Grammy Award-winning rock group, including co-founder Eric Burton, released its neat 10-song sophomore effort, Chronicles of a Diamond, on October 28 to an immediate wave of critical acclaim. (NPR listed the album in its best new releases for the week, and NME, American Songwriter, and more threw in their own positive two cents.)

A second LP is usually not time to fully reinvent, and Black Pumas live up to the unspoken promise of their debut. Chronicles of a Diamond delivers tasteful grooves and a light psychedelic flavor that doesn't actually require much of an altered consciousness to enjoy. Tracks like "Hello" and "Gemini Sun" with distant gospel vocals and trancey instrumental distortions bring a little more depth than before, while others like "Ice Cream (Pay Phone)" and "Sauvignon" insert a little playfulness.

As always with Black Pumas, the soul stylings are front-and-center in Burton's falsetto, but this record throws it back not just to Marvin Gaye but classic rock in all its flavors — nearly even stumbling into prog rock a few times, not least in the aptly titled "Rock and Roll." ("Innovation, inspiration, temptation," chants Burton against assertive riffs, one of which seems to whisper a twist on The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy).")

Black Pumas Chronicles of a Diamond cover Album art courtesy of Black Pumas

This stylistic breadth and retro songwriting should keep this album relevant, and the band busy, for quite a while. With Burton joining Quesada as a co-producer on this album, there's a whole new dynamic to explore.

"More than anything I wanted to make something we’d be thrilled to play live 200 days a year,” said Burton, a self-taught musician and former Los Angeles busker in a release. “I wanted to be able to laugh, cry, bob my head, do the thing: It was all very much a selfish endeavor."

The floating, introspective "Colors" was the duo's runaway hit in 2019, in heavy rotation on alternative radio. So far the single "More Than a Love Song" seems like the standout on Chronicles of a Diamond, and has already hit No. 1 on on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Chart.

Despite the confidence that must bring, these seasoned-yet-just-breaking musicians tried to take it in stride. Burning out — or perhaps selling out — was not an option.

“I knew the first record was good when we finished it, but I had no idea people would respond like they did," said Quesada. “This time around there was a lot of pressure and expectation that we hadn’t felt before, which was overwhelming at times, but we did our best to tune that out and focus on trusting ourselves like we always have.”

Still very much a local band, Black Pumas are playing several shows in or near Austin in 2023 before heading off to big U.S. cities outside of Texas and even the U.S. (Notably, they'll also be breaking in a buzzy new San Antonio venue on its opening nights in February.)

November 2 — C-Boy's Heart & Soul, with a live broadcast at 8pm CT on KUTX
December 3-4 — ACL Live
December 5-6 — ACL Live with Danielle Ponder
December 8 — The Factory in Deep Ellum with Danielle Ponder (Dallas)
December 9 — House of Blues with Danielle Ponder (Houston) (SOLD OUT)
December 10 — House of Blues with Danielle Ponder (Houston)
February 16-17 – Stable Hall (San Antonio)

Listen to Chronicles of a Diamond on your favorite streaming platform, or buy limited-edition vinyls and CDs from retailers on this list.

music new releases

Movie Review

Strange decisions pay off in unusual movie musical Emilia Pérez

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez.

Musicals have been used as a medium to convey all sorts of different stories, from the Old West, to cats, to one of the Founding Fathers. But it takes a certain kind of imagination to think that a cartel boss making a gender transition as she quits the drug business is a prime candidate for an original movie musical, as is done in Emilia Pérez.

The person with that unusual thinking is French writer/director Jacques Audiard, who in addition to making the film a musical, decided to do it almost entirely in Spanish, a language he doesn’t even speak. Adding to all the other atypical aspects, the main character of the film is not the one after whom the film is named. Instead, the main character is Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña), the lawyer hired by cartel boss Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), to help her achieve her dream of becoming a woman.

Of course, that dream comes with consequences, most importantly how to separate the soon-to-be Emilia Pérez from her wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez), and her kids without arousing suspicion. The solution, as well as the “death” of Manitas, is elegant, but after a period of time Emilia finds herself longing for her kids again. Rita re-enters to set up the arrangements, setting in motion a series of events that are both predictable and unpredictable.

The musical sequences of the film are fascinating, mostly because they don’t adhere to the rules typically used in musical films. More often than not they pop up out of nowhere, with a character speaking normally and then deciding that the next line needs to be the start of a song. This allows Audiard to utilize all sorts of locations as the settings for the sequences, as well as the incorporation of unorthodox elements, such as the loading of guns as musical beats.

Even though 90 percent of the film is in Spanish with English subtitles, none of the feeling of the story is lost in translation. Several of the songs are certified bangers, with the repetition of phrases giving them a great rhythm even if you have to keep glancing down to understand what they’re singing. Each of the main three characters get a chance to shine even though none of the songs require the actors to belt them out.

Audiard does a subtle job of commenting on the experience of being a transgender woman in the position that Emilia finds herself. Her desire to live her life as she’s always wanted is in conflict with still wanting to see her kids, as she doesn’t want to reveal the person she used to be. Her personal life is also in conflict with a newfound urge to help families that were victimized by Manitas. The ever-changing story keeps both the characters and the audience on their toes.

Saldaña, whose time in the worlds of Star Trek, Marvel, and Avatar the past 15 years has been her biggest exposure, digs deep into this character, putting on a compelling performance. So too does Gascón, a Spanish transgender actor who embodies every aspect of her role in a manner only someone like her could. Gomez seems slightly miscast, but she has enough solid scenes to justify her presence in the film.

Emilia Pérez is a film that upends expectations at almost every turn. While it might have also worked as a non-musical, the music side of it supports the story in unconventional ways, drawing the audience deeper into a story that itself is out of the ordinary.

---

Emilia Pérez is now streaming on Netflix.

movies film