In their news album Caracas Hotel, Mau y Ricky reconnected with their roots in more ways than one: The Montaner brothers packed their bags and flew to Caracas for the first time in 15 years, rekindling their love for a place they left as children. Inspired by their homeland, they began making music that reignited their “love of writing and music” for the sake of creating it, without the pressure of commercial success.
In simple words from Ricky: “It just changed our lives.”
On their new album, their first under their own inscription, the brothers pushed away from expectations, staying true to the catchy pop tunes and playful lyrics they're known for. The pair experimented alongside producer Malay, known for his work with Frank Ocean and Zayn, and the resulting 15-track project, released on Friday, takes them completely out of their comfort zone.
“When you start experiencing certain levels of success, sometimes it can start to dictate how you create in the studio because you're just creating with an expectation,” says Ricky. Rolling rock. “And that hinders your creative process, because you're almost trying to write for a playlist or for the club.”
“We were able to find that real sweet spot of creating from the love of it and the joy of just adding to the record, rather than going, 'How can we make sure this shit is huge?' adds Mau.
In the last year, the couple returned to Venezuela several times. They filmed a tear-jerking documentary, due later this year, showing how they rediscovered where they were born and shot 15 music videos for Caracas Hotel, supported by a huge crew filled with local creatives. The two left Venezuela with their father and the Latin music legend Ricardo Montaner, about Miami, where they grew up and have spent most of their lives. Their memories of Venezuela are sparse, but they remember hearing often that “there would never be any way we could go back.”
“We started to suffer from a big identity crisis without really knowing it, and we would hide it with anger in a way,” admits Ricky. He says his Venezuelan friends joked about their Americanized accents sometimes and called them “grigos.” Once Mau had his baby, the couple decided it might be time to return. “This kid won't know where he's from. Where the hell are we from bro?' Ricky remembers asking Mau.
But coming back to Venezuela really felt like coming home. “When you're where you were made, it's almost like things flow naturally. We felt like we were part of it all the time,” says Mau. “There, I felt en mi salsa.”
The visuals pair well with the album itself, which explores electro-pop and house sounds on tracks like “Pasado Mañana” and “David Beckham.” In “Wow”, they try tropical flows and the standout “Espectacular” even features merengue legends Illegales. On “Vas a Destrozarme,” the guys effortlessly lace band horns with R&B, a Malaysian-inspired mash-up that sees the Chiquis perform bandwagon at the Latin Grammys. “It's this R&B, bluesy, band record. It's so crazy [track] because these horns convey such a feeling,” Mau explains. “He's laughing at you.”
Mau y Ricky played most of the instruments on the album themselves and recorded some of them on tape, giving the music a texture they never expected. “It required you to be on your A-game,” says Mau.
Some of the album's lyrics explore infidelity, vices and other topics “they would never have touched on before”. Mau recalls how missing his son on a long trip to Los Angeles inspired him to write “Amarte Tanto” with Canadian singer-songwriter JP Saxe, who was also involved in the project and introduced the duo to Malaysia. “I feel like right now I'm going through this thing with my son where I can't believe how much it hurts to love this kid,” she recalled telling Saxe. “And it hurts because it's a painful love, I don't know how to explain it.”
Ricky singles out “Cancion 2” for his most personal story. In it, he expresses gratitude that he met his wife at the right time, and not when he was “lost” and hanging out with two or three girls at a time. “We weren't open to being so honest before,” he says.
“It's all honestly based on wanting to convey emotion,” adds Mau. “It was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful process to engage with music in this way.”
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/mau-y-ricky-hotel-caracas-interview-1235030049/