Dividing his time between Los Angeles, Mexico City, and land that he recently bought in the high Mojave Desert, Cesar Saez is a true Bohemian spirit with a predilection for the black and white films of The Golden Age of Mexican cinema, vintage clothing, and vinyl. Regarding his vinyl rituals, Saez explains “Once the needle drops, you’re in for the journey and not just one song; and that’s how I like to do it.” It’s that level of regard for the journey and not just the destination that drives the narrative of his latest release, El Esplendor de la Tristeza aka The Splendor of Sadness in English.
Ebbing with the highs and lows of love and heartbreak, The Splendor of Sadness is a dramatic continuum influenced by ’70s Mexican pop legends such as Juan Gabriel and José José and other international artists of high drama like Serge Gainsbourg and Scott Walker. Modern boleros are interwoven with rock ‘n’ roll and traces of Britpop on this 11-song pilgrimage in English/Spanish, casting light on all of Saez’s influences. With the languid conversational stage presence of Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, his album and persona are a new musical framework.
After the breakup of his last band The Wallburds, the former Bixby Knolls member found himself writing songs in Spanish for the first time despite English being his first language. A latent direction with roots in his childhood in Mexico City, Saez was introduced to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles by his father who listened to the CDMX radio station that steadily played classic rock hits. But it was his mother’s boyfriend who taught him his first chords on the guitar. He would show up every week on his mother’s doorstep with flowers and a mariachi band to serenade her, and then take the whole family out to dinner. It’s the duality of these experiences that have led Saez to the multi-lingual approach he’s taking as a solo artist now.
Recorded between Mexico City and Los Angeles’ legendary Sound Factory Studios, the album is without any plug-ins; a great source of pride for Saez. “Everything that is on it is real—like the string arrangements—that were composed, directed, and recorded with real players,” he explains. Filled with vintage keys like the Vox Continental and a Hammond, even a Mellotron was used during its recording.
The album’s tenth track, “Canción Triste,” is inspired by one of Saez’s major influences, Spiritualized. A full circle moment for Saez—the track features the DC6 Singers, a choir that Spiritualized performed with at one of their Los Angeles shows. With precision-crafted tracks on the lighter side of psych rock like the album’s last track “Help Galaxy,” The Splendor of Sadness is a baroque pop concept album made with an approach that Cesar Saez lives by: “Just trying to find the moment and let things flow.”
