Rituales’, the sixth album by Mexican rock band Porter, is yet another effort by Spanish-language music to be “critical of modern life”, an era in which “natural resources are in crisis, social networks have us dumbfounded and the treatment of migration is aberrant”, the four members of the group told EFE.
“These are moments of frustration in which we see that the world is ending and we can only do our bit against a system that makes us believe that we decide about our lives, but in reality we are minuscule,” exclaimed guitarist Fernando de la Huerta about the feeling of the songs and of a generation born in the late nineties.
This eight-track album, which will be released in its entirety next March, is part of his national tour, which will be highlighted by his presentation at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on February 5, with the participation of emerging Mexican singer Macario and Spanish Ana Torroja.
During the presentation of this tour of eleven cities in the country, the artists from the Mexican state of Jalisco also spoke about the new songs ‘America’, ‘Seres Superiors’ and ‘Ego de un fantasma’, which address issues such as the occupation of territories and war, the dominance of the United States in South America and the toxic consumption of technology.
Porter: Marking a generation
With 21 years of experience, the members of the band are aware that they have influenced a generation of Mexican teenagers who are now adults; they even told EFE that they received an award from the Ministry of Culture for their musical contribution to the Mexican population.
“When we received the award I felt something beautiful, because they call us composers, but we are rather sensitive and what we do is to bring down the messages that are in the environment,” said bassist Diego Rangel.
Despite this transcendence, the musician Víctor Valverde pointed out that they are an independent band facing economic problems like many others and that they depend on streaming platforms, where “80% of their music” is listened to.
However, Porter expressed his admiration for the activism of groups such as Café Tacvba, who asked Universal Music and Warner Music Mexico to remove their catalog from Spotify, so as not to finance wars and reprehensible actions of the United States.
“The music industry is complex, changing and unstable, and it has a long way to go to become more professional; as musicians, it is up to us to be witnesses of our time and leave a memory through what we do,” Valverde concluded.
With this tour, the group will visit eleven cities in the country, starting at the National Auditorium in the Mexican capital and concluding at the Foro Boca in Veracruz, where they will also present their new single ‘Trueno’, reported Agencia EFE.
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