Juanjo: Tom Vallejo debuts as a soloist with the release of ‘Abre’ and ‘Notas’

The Quito artist Tom Vallejo (@tom.vallejo) has been linked to independent national music for some years in different projects, one of the most notable being the Bardo José group. In this 2022, Tom has decided to venture into his stage as a solo artist and seeks to walk his own path.

Available on digital distribution platforms since last Friday, released under Pesca Records’ independent record label Clvb (@clvbdepesca), a double release appears, very typical of the times of vinyl records, in which there was an a side and a b side; this time we have Opens Y Grades, two songs that mark a clear panorama of Tom Vallejo’s sound identity.

Opens It is a collaborative composition between the main artist and Raúl Molina, a renowned musician in the local independent scene. This theme works as an introduction to Vallejo’s work, which is notoriously influenced by jazz, soul, R&B and different styles that have left their mark throughout his life, these are combined with few verses and an accompaniment instrumental that is responsible for creating a surreal sound environment.

With a more dynamic metric, start Gradeswhich maintains the aesthetics of the aforementioned genres and styles, however, showing what I consider the key piece of Tom Vallejo’s melodies: his guitar. The riffs of guitar are the main element of both songs due to the lightness with which they are interpreted, managing to captivate the listener and highlighting the different figures and phrases of the strings. Another important component is the particular voice of the artist, which far from being virtuous, manages to distinguish itself from what is currently heard in independent national music.

This first release is just the beginning of an album that will be released in 2022. Tom Vallejo is ready to start this new stage of his artistic life and he does it with a great start. Undoubtedly expectations are high after the kickoff.