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\u201cIt\u2019s a little homage to Mrs. Perry,\u201d says Adrian Perry of his new project, El Cortina, and its namesake. Pulled from his wife\u2019s maiden name and her nickname during college, \u201cCortina,\u201d it was a word that \u201crattled around\u201d in Perry\u2019s brain for some time, until it found a place. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also a little bit of a throwback to some of my old friends who will remember that, and it\u2019s a little nod to her,\u201d adds Perry. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of goofy. It\u2019s a jokey nickname that just stuck in my head, and it\u2019s a little confusing. It\u2019s not grammatically correct, and the logo is an owl, but I think it all works.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Perry, El Cortina is his return to music, something he put on hold after his former band, alongside brother Tony, Dead Boots (formerly TAB the Band), went on hiatus in 2015 after nearly a decade together. Perry refocused on his family and his day job as an entertainment lawyer, then found himself tinkering around with writing again during the pandemic, eventually piecing together El Cortina\u2019s debut, Top Down<\/em>. <\/p>\n \u201cI got some of the rust off,\u201d said Perry about returning to music and reconnecting with collaborator and Top Down<\/em> co-producer Eric Lense, who also contributes drums, guitar, and backing vocals, on the album. \u201cThen we started recording,\u201d he adds, \u201cso it was a gradual process over a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n Mixed by Zach Hancock (Alicia Keys, Gov\u2019t Mule), Top Down<\/em>\u00a0marks a new musical chapter for Perry. It rides like a road trip back in time, from the 1970s and \u201990s through the early \u201900s and a time more distant with its bluesy attributes and garage-punk meddling, kicking off with the lo-fi drifter \u201cWhiz Kid\u201d and raw guitar rocker \u201cCan\u2019t Feel It.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>This is some good ol\u2019 power pop with a little scuzz on it,\u201d Perry said of the latter track in a previous statement. \u201cThe character in the song is someone laboring through the addiction cycle, trying to make good and shine it on in normal life.\u201d<\/p>\n Perry fits in ballad, \u201cLesson No. 1,\u201d before the bluesier heartland \u201cBlack Petunias\u201d and punk-doused \u201cI Love You, So?\u201d and a riffed-up six-minute-plus closer \u201cGettalong.\u201d<\/p>\n El Cortina is a departure in production for Perry, after bouncing song back and forth to completion with his brother in Dead Boots, to developing the entire vision and writing the songs for Top Down<\/em>. The album merged from fragments of songs Perry had filed away and others that came more swiftly.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re always rattling around,\u201d says Perry. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m going to turn them all into something. If the song doesn\u2019t come in a natural, progressive flow, then maybe it\u2019s not meant to be. That\u2019s one of the big things I\u2019ve learned over the years when writing: never force anything and let the song tell you where it\u2019s supposed to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Midway into this progression, \u201cLiving E-Z\u201d is Perry\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein\u201d track since he began piecing together more than 20 years earlier, during his undergraduate studies at Stanford University.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote the beginnings of that song in college, but I could never finish it in the way that I wanted,\u201d says Perry. \u201cThen, it just came back to me, and I finished it in like three seconds. So that tune is actually a bit of a Frankenstein.\u201d<\/p>\n Top Down<\/em> covers a range of narratives, spanning escapism, individuality, and \u201cstanding tall in your uniqueness,\u201d says Perry. \u201cIt\u2019s also that feeling of wanting to get away from the same old cycles of life.\u201d<\/p>\n These nuance stories show up in the sequence of Top Down<\/em>, something that was intentional for Perry.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted it to feel like those early \u201970s records where you\u2019ve got 40 minutes\u2014that\u2019s it,\u201d he says. Clocking in at just under 41 minutes and 30 seconds, the album was also naturally sequenced for vinyl, closing side one with \u201cI Keep Bleeding\u201d then restarting side two on the fiery \u201cThe Stick-Up.\u201d <\/p>\n For Perry, El Cortina opens a new door into music, one he\u2019ll work on alongside his law practice. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously not easy to slot in time for music\u2014that\u2019s part of the reason why it took so long to get this recorded,\u201d shares Perry. \u201cBut I\u2019m always much better when I have both sides of my brain churning, and having a music project, I realized I missed having that. I love my job [in law] as well. I get to work in music and entertainment and tech, and those industries are always evolving, so there\u2019s a creative element there.\u201d<\/p>\n