Today, Mapache — the “quintessentially laid-back” (UNCUT) Los Angeles-based duo of Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch whose “angelic harmonies weave between traditional folk and modern cosmic country music” (FLOOD) — release their new covers project 3 via Innovative Leisure. A tenderly crafted tribute to beloved music from past legends and admired contemporaries, 3 is a showcase for the seemingly effortless, unmistakably Californian musicality that has quickly become Mapache’s signature.
Listen to 3 here: https://smarturl.it/mapache3
Created in the midst of the pandemic shutdown that interrupted the touring of their 2020 album From Liberty Street, 3 emerged after Sam and Clay hunkered down with their close friend and record producer Dan Horne (Beachwood Sparks, Cass McCombs, Allah-Las) and began to work on vulnerable reinterpretations on some of their favorite songs. There are tributes to acknowledged classics — including a sun-dappled and swaying take on Stevie Wonder’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” and a romantically unhurried version of Sade’s “All About Our Love” — as well as inventive spins on songs by Allah-Las and Aussie psych-rockers Babe Rainbow.
The performances on 3 embody exactly what makes Mapache’s music so intoxicating: close harmonies, masterful musicianship, and a unique ability to tap into the innate vibrations of a song and tease out its moments of wonder. It’s a welcoming record that posits deep, thoughtful listening as the greatest means of escape.
Watch a live performance of Sade’s “All About Our Love” filmed in Big Sur here: https://youtu.be/peTyQoR2OsY
Mapache’s 2020 album From Liberty Street — also recorded with Dan Horne — was described by Aquarium Drunkard as “a warm, pacific-breezed collection of country rock, western twang, Mexican boleros, and a touch of that Gram Parsons cosmic Americana fairy dust.” The group’s self-titled debut was cut live and raw around a single microphone and helped the Mapache earn festival appearances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Pickathon, where Rolling Stone named their set one of the weekend's top highlights.
Mapache tour dates can be found here, more to be announced soon: https://www.mapachesounds.com/tour