WATUSSI – Cuando Sera

Cuando Sera is the first single to be released off Watussi’s forthcoming album ‘El Olvido’, due out in September 2011.

Formed in 2005 and led by Colombian expat Oscar Jiminez, Watussi (Cuban slang for ‘the most handsome man at the party’) deliver Latino-tinged roots rock that’s powerful enough to make a dead man dance.

Their 2008 ARIA-nominated debut album ‘Tequila, Sangre y Fuego’ was hailed a work of genius and hallucinogenic madness. It earned them a series of accolades and found its way into the hands of Brian Eno, who selected the band to perform at the Sydney Opera House in 2009 for the inaugural Vivid LIVE festival.

Since then Watussi have toured through Asia, playing at the Ulsan World Music Festival in South Korea and the Horie Music Festival in Japan, and in 2010 the band made their first trip to South America where they secured an invitation to play at the celebrated four-yearly Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro in Colombia, becoming the first ever Australian band to perfom there.

2011 has seen Watussi continue at a frenzied pace: having already released their Tu Te Vas single and ‘1000% Handsome’ EP early on in the year, completed an extensive east coast Australian tour along with dates in New Zealand, and supported their musical idol Santana on his recent tour to our shores, the energetic eight-piece are proof that there’s no rest for the wicked.

Cuando Sera, the band’s latest single, blends warm cumbia reggae with doleful horns in an uplifting musical call to action. The song tells the story of Clara Rojas, just one of many women who fall victim to kidnapping in Colombia every year – a frightening symptom of a country rife with corruption and violence.

Brooklyn producer Joel Hamilton (BlakRoc, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), whose longstanding relationship with Colombia and its people brought about a chance meeting with Oscar in late 2009, brings a sensitivity and respect to Cuando Sera (‘When Will It Stop’) that encourages its audience to stop, listen and feel the music.

Join Watussi at The Basement in June, where they will launch the Cuando Sera single and showcase new material from their forthcoming album. Five dollars from every ticket sold will be donated to South American community development charity Project Seres.

CUANDO SERA SINGLE LAUNCH:

Friday 17th June 2011
The Basement – Reiby Place, Circular Quay
w/ special guests The Liberators
$25 presale / $20 on the door
9.30pm

www.watussi.com.au