When they met in the mid-1990s, Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton and Rob Garza instantly bonded over their shared passion for bossa nova. Over the years, they've given nods to their bossa-nova influence on individual album tracks, slipping those quietly enchanting songs into recordings that reveal the duo’s careful studying of everything from Jamaican dub reggae to punk to vintage film soundtracks to psychedelic space rock. Now on Saudade, Thievery Corporation are, once again, changing direction and trading the fiery energy of their last two albums for a wistful mood and summery spirit—a shift that both members found highly refreshing.
Says Hilton, “What we’re doing here is pretty traditional and timeless-sounding, and in that it’s completely contrarian.”