Today, Gammy-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela has shared “Somos Como Tú,” which is joyous and rhythmically charged new single that marks a historic first in their two-decade-plus career and the first Rodrigo y Gabriela song to feature lyrics and vocals. The ditty opens an entirely new dimension of their music because Rodrigo Sánchez takes the lead with soulful vocals, while Gabriela Quintero answers with a rapid-fire cadence with their voices surrounded by effusive hand percussion and ecstatic gang vocals from a group of local fans.
The result feels unmistakably Rodrigo y Gabriela even as it ventures somewhere they have never gone on record before. Its title translates to “We Are Like You” and the song turns that simple phrase into a larger statement about migration, displacement, dignity and shared humanity. Written from the perspective of people searching for a path and a place to belong, “Somos Como Tú” considers the arbitrary circumstances that separate one life from another while returning again and again to the idea that beneath those divisions, our experiences and humanity are shared.
“I wrote that song when I was living in Paris in 2015 and always loved it, but for some reason we could never come up with a version that sounded like us,” says Sánchez. “We decided to try again for this album, and it turned into something that felt very powerful and honest, and even more relevant than it was 10 years ago.”
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