Fuu is the first full-length album by the Costa Rica based band Hongo Fuu, after the previous independent release of two EPs. Fusion and experimentation are where the album is rooted; as a catalyst of the insights from each of the four members of the band, Fuu is the final product of this “ontology of becoming” alchemical process. It’s a manifestation from melding their diverse individual cosmic visions, poured into a 12-track album with lyrics in Spanish, English, German and Latin text quotations, and which defies the labels of music genres into a more experimental and visceral approach to music.
This is an album that comes from experimentation and goes into jazz, rock, surf, metal, dance, Americana, drone, stoner and folk music. Fuu is a genre breaking remembrance of what used to be known as “alternative metal”, but from a Costa Rican’s Tropical-Hell revisited. Both melodic and dark, Hongo Fuu presents a complex yet dark-humorous and ironic self-referencing painting. Musically, conceptually and visually, Fuu is a descending trip to the depths of the self, its contradictions, its moody waves, its diversity… its absurdity. This is a clear statement from the band, its first straight one. The tracks represent the spirit laying behind the Japanese fuu, “the way”, its dual meaning. Fuu is the blend of a communion of spirits.
The album was entirely produced by the band and includes some voice, synths, marimba, and piano collaborations from selected Costa Rican artists, musicians from such varied bands as: Erth (progressive jazz rock), Alastor Sanguinary Embryo (black metal), the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra, and others.
Fuu | Released March 2nd, 2021 via Sliptrick Records
Track Listing:
01. Control | 02. CoKeta Molly | 03. Ratwater | 04. Frégoli | 05. Into The Mouth Of Rán | 06. Venus, La Atrapamoscas | 07. El Culto Al Hongo Azul | 08. Sleepyhead | 09. …Son Demasiados Harrys | 10. Trite | 11. ʘ | 12. O Light Of Dawn
Guests performances:
Vox (2 & 4): David Cubero (ÉSM, graphic artist, The Cursed, ex-Señor Tijeras)
Vox (5 & 7): Mauricio “Abrahkkan” Bolaños (Alastor Sanguinary Embryo)
Vox (1, 2, 7 & 10): Krisia Vargas Guzmán (Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra)
Programmed Synths (6): lanada.
Synths and Theremin (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 & 12): Joel Fernández (Erth, Ouiea, Perros Led, ex-Passiflora)
Pianos and Synths (5 & 9): Andrés Bonilla (Erth, soloist)
Marimba (10): Juan C. Díjeres Duarte (Los Reverbs, producer, ex-The Electric Creatures, ex-Trival, ex-Draconian Incubus)
Guitar (8 & 11): Carlos “Picudo” Guardia (ex-GPS, Igni Ferroque, independent, soloist, producer)
Recorded and Mixed at “Estudio Planeta C”, San José, Costa Rica, by Carlos “Picudo” Guardia
Mix assistant: Ariel Uzaga
Guitar tech: Francisco Gurdián
Artwork: Félix Arburola M
Marimbas recorded at “Casa Verde”, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste by Juan Carlos Díjeres.
Synths, Theremins, and Pianos recorded at home studio by Joel Fernández and Andrés Bonilla.
Mastered (1, 2 & 7) at “Wright Way Studios”, Baltimore, MD, USA, by Steve Wright. (Dog Fashion Disco, Omar Rodríguez-López, Dying Fetus, U.N.K.L.E, Mos Def)
Mastered (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12) at “Estudio Planeta C”, by Carlos Guardia.
Hongo Fuu are:
Félix Arburola – Guitar/Vocals | Guillermo Meneses – Bass/Vocals | Héctor Romero – Guitar/Vocals | Ariel Uzaga – Drums/Vocals
Band links: Official Website | Facebook | Youtube | Instagram | On Sliptrick
