DÍAS ETERNOS / ETERNAL DAYS

4.5 stars. SAENA is the project of Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma, one of Mexico's most important and legendary avant composers. Academic is the word, and the man is a brilliant multi-instrumentalist. He's created music for theatre, ballet and documentaries. From 1996 to 2007 Ledesma had been very active with his solo work, almost always with Margarita Botello, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and a vocalist mainly of the wordless style.

Jose's solo album from 2003 called "Designios" stands out from among the nine or so that he's recorded. It's more in the symphonic/folk style with the avant held in check. One of the songs off of that album is called "Saena" which is of course the name of this band, and a big hint at what the music would sound like. Ledesma's solo work was put on hold as SAENA became the focus. There was this large gap in his solo work with "Hibridos" from 2007 being his last until that most recent release out of the blue in 2022.

SAENA's debut was released in 2008 and then all we heard was crickets. They were a five piece with the violinist being a big part of the sound like on "Designos". So colour me surprised when I found out about this 2021 release called "Dias Eternos". And this one is different. I know it's been 14 years or so but the violinist is gone, and this is more stripped down. That same violinist is a guest here though on three songs. And we get a guest sax and trumpet player on the title track. Ledesma is just playing guitar surprisingly. They are a four piece with Margarito adding her keyboards, accordion and vocals. A drummer plus a warr guitar player rounds out the band.

The band I thought of the most was SYRINX from France. The absolute precision and depth of sound that these two bands created is just so appealing to me. I know I'm not the biggest symphonic fan these days, but when you get a composer with Ledesma's credentials, expect the unexpected. But expect quality of the highest order. I'm leaning to this one as my favourite of the two. We get just under 58 minutes of music over seven tracks. There's a couple of long ones on here ranging between 12 and 14 plus minutes.

This album "sounds" amazing and there are no weak moments or songs for that matter. "Chivita Al Precipicio" stands out for me. A six plus minute number with electronics I believe. The guitar is beautiful 2 minutes in and we get plenty of piano too. How about the distorted keys on "Pos Rock" and the title track. And that title track features guest sax, trumpet and violin. If you like the accordion then check out "Musetta".

A uniform sounding album that I enjoy a lot. I'm so glad that Ledesma is back after that long break from 2008 to this record in 2021, plus a solo record the following year in 2022. He's back! I hope. I quite enjoy the many photos of the band in the liner notes.