Music Review

05 July 2009 04:07 BST

Capitan Melao: Lagrima

black beans, out now.

In a nutshell…
Hypnotic, melodic, enchanting, relaxing, moving

What's it all about?

Lagrima, which means tear, takes you on something of a journey, fusing a number of different styles across its ten songs. Despite lasting just over 35 minutes, Lagrima completely entrances the listener and tells us something about Welyer - or Capitan Melao - himself. "At the end an album is a compilation of one being's effort to tell us a tale about themselves, their lives and their imagination," goes the information that accompanies Lagrima and in this instance, imagination and tale are seemingly very apt words for the enjoyable music that Weyler has created.

Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, Natalia Lafourcade (described as Mexico's "new revelation") and Carlos Reyes from band Chuck Norris are among those that help Weyler out with Lagrima, putting in turns on guitar or additional vocals for some of the tracks.

Who's it by

Capitan Melao is the alternate identity of Javier Weyler, the latest drummer from British rock band the Stereophonics. Born in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires, Weyler grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and now lives in London, a journey which is said to have influenced his debut work, Lagrima. Weyler replaced drummer Stuart Cable as the man on the sticks for the Stereophonics following his departure from the band after the You've Gotta Go There To Come Back album. The singer songwriter builds on his wealth of travelling and cultural experiences to develop and formulate an album that was created largely from a bunk on the Stereophonics tour bus.


Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

The album has not been released on a major label and although it is available worldwide through iTunes, it is unclear how a Spanish language album with a low key release will perform. It deserves an ear; whether it will get enough to send it near the Grammys is debatable.


So is it any good?

Lagrima is without doubt a success. Despite sounding nothing like anything the Stereophonics have ever put together, the debut work from Capitan Melao is the work of a consummate talent; a fantastic singer songwriter who is able to fuse influences from his Latin past and his British present to create something very special. Bossanova, bolero, rock and electronic all come together to make a relaxing and emotional expression of music, expressed in Spanish language but through a universal sound.

Even the album cover is in itself a testament to the dream-like sound that carries through the track list, with illustrations by Korea's Soo Hong and designed by Madrid's Juan Pablo Solari emphasising the international flavour of Lagrima.

As a member of the Stereophonics, Weyler is a drummer; I only hope he has a chance to contribute some of his obvious Capitan Melao-style talents on the next Stereophonics production.

9 /10

Chris Webber