Globetrotting musician & producer El Búho presents his third LP ‘Natura Sonora’, an album of imagined journeys and a homage to the immensity, beauty and mystery of the natural world. Currently based in Paris, this latest album is the culmination of his personal journey to unite the three worlds of electronica, folk and nature sound. The album celebrates the power of the imagination, created as a series of imagined journeys into the wild beauty of nature while stuck at home in the Parisian suburbs during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
‘Natura Sonora’s inception was during the first Covid-19 lockdown from his 40sqm flat in a Parisian suburb, dreaming of the beauty of the outside world. Perkins explains: “The concept was to use music as a tool to go on an imagined journey to some of the world’s most beautiful natural places – an escape from the same view from my window of a grey, urban environment during lockdown. I chose nine stunningly beautiful, strange and mysterious corners of the world I have always dreamt of visiting but never have. I immersed myself in these places, watching videos, photographs and seeking out recordings of how they sound.”
With a selection of nine incredible natural locations as his muse, Perkins began crafting a soundscape to accompany each location, incorporating field recordings into the very fabric of the music. On his process, he explains: “These recordings became the foundation for each track, from creaking ice to underwater mangroves, goats and birds to rain and rivers, each sound has its own story to tell. I would place the ‘found sound’ recording into Ableton, hook up my Digitone synth or some drum kits and start to explore and experiment alongside the sound. I also took a lot of inspiration from sound ecologists like Bernie Kraus’ work on the musicality of nature and how sound can be a measure of an ecosystem’s health.”
Having enlisted Tomás Sánchez (one of Cuba’s most important living artists) for the LP artwork. Perkins says “Tomás’ stunningly detailed landscapes explore the beauty and loss of our natural world, depicting a utopic, untouched, dreamlike scene which no longer exists and often placing a lone figure meditating before a lush, wild, green backdrop. His work presents a paradox of mourning for what we have destroyed alongside hope and a vision of what we are trying to save – a symbol of hope within chaos.”
A truly immersive listening experience, ‘Natura Sonora’ is a stunning journey from start to finish. Lush textures, floating melodies and organic samples intertwine throughout, painting delicate and detailed mental images as synth patterns reverberate into cavernous unknown spaces. With incredible vocal contributions from SHIRAN, Aeve Ribbons and Sutarti, ‘Natura Sonora’ is a true testament to the healing power of the great outdoors and music, for those who seek it’s solace. In his own words El Búho describes the LP “Natura Sonora is an ode to the majesty of nature and its power to inspire, a reminder that despite our attempts to control it, we remain in awe of its power, its beauty and its mystery. It is also an ode to the imagination, to travelling without moving and how, despite the hardship, the pandemic also pushed our creative boundaries.”
El Búho will release ‘Natura Sonora’ on November 5th via Shika Shika Listen Here
Biography
El Búho (AKA Robin Perkins) was born in a small town in the north-west of England to a Geography lecturer dad and a naturalist mum. Growing up on the edge of the Peak District National Park, Perkins was surrounded by, and
immersed in nature from an early age. He went on to study Latin American studies at Glasgow University, writing his thesis on migrations of meaning in music from the Brazilian sertão. During this time he spent a year studying in
Buenos Aires, travelling extensively, from the tip of Tierra del Fuego all the way up to the equator and being introduced to the city’s flourishing ‘nu-cumbia’ or ‘folktronica’ scene led by ZZK Records and artists like Chancha Via Circuito. Igniting his imagination, it was here that he first started to produce, mixing the influence of UK electronica he was exposed to through Glasgow’s thriving club scene with Latin American folk and natural sounds. During his two years spent living in Mexico following the release of his ‘Cenotes EP’ in 2015 on Nickodemus’ New York label Wonderwheel Recording, El Búho’s music career began to take off. The EP’s stand out track Mañana Tepotzlan would go on to reach over 10 million streams on Spotify and his 2016 Tulum Boiler Room set alongside Nicola Cruz has almost 3 million views on YouTube to date. His acclaimed debut album ‘Balance’ was released in 2017 and was followed by ‘Camino de Flores’ in 2018, released through his artist-forward collective Shika Shika run alongside argentina producer Barrio Lindo. El Búho has played venues all over the world including Lolapolooza Chile, Bahidora in Mexico, Public Works in San Francisco, Berghain Kanteen in Berlin and even on the Eiffel Tower.
Owl by night, environmentalist by day, Perkins has spent over eight years working for Greenpeace all over the world on everything from pushing brands like H&M to phase out toxic chemicals from their clothes to convincing electronics giant Samsung to commit to 100% renewable energy. As well as working for Greenpeace International and Greenpeace East Asia, he spent two years with Greenpeace Mexico where he led the Toxics and Water Pollution
campaign.
