Calexico

Calexico draws its name from a settlement straddling the California-Mexico line and merges arid Southwestern American textures with spaghetti western film scores, refined jazz, and wide-ranging Latin traditions. In its formative years the ensemble conveyed this fusion of approaches and viewpoints through dramatic presentation, as heard on the 1998 album The Black Light. Over successive releases the approach grew more restrained, with 2003's Feast of Wire and 2006's Garden Ruin favoring direct songcraft while 2010's Algiers incorporated New Orleans conventions without strain. The ensemble's talent for evoking the atmosphere of particular locales remained evident on projects as varied as the 2015 Mexico City-originated The Edge of the Sun and 2022's El Mirador, an affectionate homage to the sounds and individuals that shaped the group's foundations.

The story began in 1990 when bassist Joey Burns, then a music student at the University of California Irvine, encountered percussionist John Convertino, who was drumming for Howe Gelb's longstanding ensemble Giant Sand. Burns soon joined Giant Sand on bass for a European tour and afterward moved to the band's base in Tucson, Arizona. In 1993, during a lull in Giant Sand activity, Burns and Convertino joined guitarists Billy Elm and Woody Jackson to form Friends of Dean Martinez, which combined lounge-tinged pop melodies with Southwestern musical flavors. After the 1995 release The Shadow of Your Smile, Elm left the group; Burns and Convertino subsequently worked with Richard Buckner, Neko Case, Bill Janovitz, Lisa Germano, Victoria Williams, and Barbara Manning.

Also in 1995, Burns and Convertino recorded as Spoke and issued a self-titled album on the German label Hausmusik; when Quarterstick, a Touch & Go imprint, reissued the project in 1997, the name had become Calexico. That same year Convertino and Burns joined Gelb and Germano in OP8 for the album Slush. For the next Calexico recording the duo worked at Tucson's Wavelab Studios and at home with musicians including Gelb. The resulting May 1998 concept album The Black Light, centered on the Arizona desert and northern Mexico, broadened the cinematic quality and dry, atmospheric tone of the debut. The record received strong critical notice, and the band's live reputation expanded through opening slots for Lambchop, Pavement, and the Dirty Three. On the 1999 tour the group sold the limited-edition release The Road Map, the first of many titles later offered directly via their website or at merchandise tables.

Calexico expanded its palette on May 2000's The Hot Rail by adding horns and violins. Again tracked at Wavelab, the album earned further acclaim and marked the band's first chart entry, reaching number 57 on the U.K. Albums chart. That year also brought the tour-only album Travelfall and a deluxe edition of The Hot Rail. Convertino and Burns appeared on Giant Sand's Chore of Enchantment and worked with Mariachi Luz de Luna, which contributed to the 2001 EP Even My Sure Things Fall Through, a set of new material and alternate versions. During that year's touring the band made Aerocalexico available. Following a 2002 collaboration with Nancy Sinatra on her self-titled comeback album, Calexico issued Feast of Wire in February 2003. Co-produced by longtime associate Craig Schumacher and featuring several musicians who would become regular contributors, the record offered one of the group's most ambitious blends of rock, electronic, and Latin elements. Like its predecessor, Feast of Wire charted in the U.K. and became the first Calexico album to appear on U.S. charts, registering on the Billboard Heatseekers and Independent Albums lists.

In 2005 the band joined Iron and Wine's Sam Beam for the collaborative EP In the Reins and toured together. Calexico's fifth album, April 2006's Garden Ruin, highlighted the indie-rock underpinnings of the sound and was the first full-length without instrumentals; it also became the first to enter the Billboard Top 200, peaking at number 156. Garden Ruin performed solidly in the U.K. and Europe, regions the group continued to visit regularly. For September 2008's Carried to Dust, Calexico welcomed guests including Pieta Brown, Iron and Wine, Jairo Zavala, and Doug McCombs of Tortoise, along with core members such as trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Valenzuela. The final Quarterstick release before the label stopped issuing new material in 2009, Carried to Dust reached number 98 on the Billboard 200 and number 55 on the U.K. Albums chart; it was certified gold in Europe in 2012.

After touring with Arcade Fire and scoring the documentary Circo in 2010, Calexico returned in September 2012 with Algiers, a celebration of New Orleans' Latin and jazz heritage. The first album for Anti-, it peaked at number 72 in the U.S. and number 60 in the U.K. and earned double-silver certification in Europe. Some editions included the bonus disc Spiritoso, featuring the Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien and Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg alongside the band. For the April 2015 album Edge of the Sun, Burns, Convertino, and associates traveled to Mexico City and collaborated with Neko Case, Gaby Moreno, Sam Beam, Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell, DeVotchKa's Nick Urata, members of the Greek ensemble Takim, and keyboardist Sergio Mendoza. The record reached number 37 in the U.K. and number six on the Americana/Folk Albums chart in the U.S. Seeking fresh surroundings for January 2018's The Thread That Keeps Us, the group headed to Northern California to compose songs about locating joy amid difficulty. Another European success, the album attained number five on the U.S. Americana/Folk Albums chart. Burns and Convertino later renewed their partnership with Beam for June 2019's Years to Burn. Recorded in five days at Nashville's Sound Emporium studios, the album's co-written material fused Calexico's expansive desert textures with the intimate style of Iron & Wine. The following December the band released its first holiday album, Seasonal Shift. In April 2022 Calexico issued El Mirador, a warm and buoyant tribute to family, friends, and the American Southwest that was tracked at Mendoza's home studio.