After releasing separate solo albums, singer Andrea Echeverri and bassist/producer Hector Buitrago reunited in 2007 to record Oye, their first CD as Aterciopelados in five years. The disc wasn't as rambunctiously rocking as their early work in the mid-'90s. Instead, there were entrancingly lovely interludes such as the upbeat prayer for peace, "Paces," where guitar lines twisted up exotically to sound like sitars. Overall, the Velvety Ones kept things simmering smoothly with laid-back percussion, mellow harmonies, magic-pipe exhalations, sunny arrangements and warm, uncluttered production.
Thanks to the phenomenal response to the comeback disc, though, the duo quickly followed it up with 2008's Rio, a more fiery CD that veered back more toward the band's old rock. As the guitars were louder, so too were the lyrical themes; much of the disc was devoted to arguing for clean drinking water for all Colombians. The band continues to tour behind this album and comes to Grand Central for an exclusive show squeezed in before its upcoming dates at Bonnaroo in Tennessee.
