With their sixth album, Totimoshi is entering new territory. Milagrosa, which means “miracle worker,” contains more melody and more mass than anything else the band has produced to date.
The courageous Bay Area trio entered the process for penning and producing Milagrosa after touring with Mastodon, Helmet, and the Melvins and longing for something exceptional. The results are more deeply reflective and enigmatic than anything Tony Aguilar and Meg Castellanos ever thought possible.
Infused with Meg’s Cuban roots and Tony’s background as the son of migrant workers, Milagrosa is an eclectic balance of heaviness and introspection. There’s a lot to love here, as the riffs are solid and the deep crunch of guitar certainly fleshes things out. But Totimoshi come across almost like a jam band, allowing the music to flow outwards into the sky like rising smoke.
There is no concern as to where it goes as long as it heals.
At its heart, Milagrosa is a concept album. “I wrote most of the songs as an imaginary fight between love/compassion and hate/violence. I wanted to relay the stories as one choice versus the other both in the lyrics and melody,” Tony explains on the band’s website.
This dichotomy is mirrored in the music, as some songs take the path of strong melody (“Sound the Horn”) while others venture off into heavier, madder territory (“Seeing Eye”).
Tunes like the funky “El Emplazado” ramble a little, but for the most part Milagrosa is a picture of concision and exacting craftsmanship.
Couched in Cuban folklore and themes involving overcoming violence with compassion, Milagrosa really is a stunning album. The creation of Tony and Meg deserves to be heard full-blast on a warm summer afternoon overlooking a gorgeous landscape. The melodies are gorgeous, heavy, and crisp and the record’s hospitable approach should make more than a few new fans for Totimoshi.
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Article comments
1 - El Bicho
You've got me intrigued. I am off to their site to give them a listen.