In the vast tapestry of instrumental music, Latvia’s Tempus stands as a beacon of dynamics and emotion. Their latest album, “Vida Colorida,” released on September 8, 2023, is a masterful journey through the spectrum of life’s experiences. Each track in this album is a vibrant exploration of life’s multifaceted nature, echoing the band’s intention to craft a more positive and hopeful vibe amidst recent global tumult.
Nauris and Lauris, the guitar and drum duo behind Tempus, have truly outdone themselves with this offering. “Vida Colorida” is a departure from their previous works, embracing a more progressive and optimistic sound. The album is a testament to their growth as musicians, infusing their post/prog/math rock roots with a newfound brightness and complexity.
The collaboration with guest musicians, including Uldis Veigurs on saxophone and Rachel Maia Malveira on vocals, adds an extra layer of depth and diversity to the album.
This is particularly evident in tracks like ‘Gray Matter,’ where the inclusion of the saxophone brings a refreshing and unexpected twist to Tempus’s sound.
‘Vida Colorida‘ is a musical odyssey, with each track named after a color that symbolizes different life situations. From the warning signs of ‘Red Flag’ to the melancholic beauty of ‘Blue Moon,’ the album takes listeners on an emotional and auditory journey. ‘Golden Rule’ marks a significant milestone for the band, being the first track in their decade-long history to feature vocals, beautifully executed by Maia Malveira in both English and Portuguese.
The tracks weave together to tell a story of life’s unpredictability and beauty, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in each unique color and emotion. It’s a rollercoaster of sound and sentiment, showcasing Tempus’s ability to evolve and adapt their music to reflect the ever-changing landscape of life.
For a detailed track-by-track commentary and a deeper dive into the stories behind each song, scroll down below to explore the heart and soul of ‘Vida Colorida.’
Red Flag:
Lauris – Like the name says, it is a warning sign about what is going to happen. It was the first song we wrote for the new album and immediately though that it should be the opening song. It’s just a perfect opener. We open shows with Red Flag too now. A classic post-metal song with some technical parts in it.
Nauris – This song is one of the oldest from the new album. We wanted the song to start calmly and then with a strong punch start taking you on the journey the album is gonna lead to. Three layers of guitar loops are being played on that song. At the end of the song Lauris came up with the idea that guitar tremolo part should be played two times faster and with slides. This song and the whole album is first one for me that I use a Baritone guitar on the recording.
White Lie:
Lauris – The first single from the album is probably the most changed song through the writing process. When we first wrote it, it sounded completly different from what it is now. It had like about 4/5 changes before we made it to the final version. Even in the studio when we recorded it, we had to cut one part out. I think it’s the most proggy song we have to date, very interesting to play, and pretty hard to play live.
Nauris – This song was completly different when we wrote it first. Wile writing songs for this albums we allowed them to live in the first ideas for some time. Let them breath. And after a while if wanted to change something, then we did it. This one turned out pretty progressive.
Gray Matter:
Lauris – The surprise song as we call it now. Lot of people were shocked when they heard this song for the first time. Fans wrote and asked, ‘’You have a saxophone now?’’ We were pretty nervous at first of the idea to include a saxophone in one of our songs. But it paid of. When we decided that we want a saxophone we immediately thought of Uldis Veigurs, a local sax virtuoso. He agreed right away and there it is, Grey Matter has the most listens now on Spotify.
Nauris – I had the ‘’Knight Rider’’ theme in my head when we started to write this song. After a while we changed it to a more slow and abstarct melody with groovy rhythms. It’s an airy and hypnotizing song.
Silver Lining:
Lauris – The new album itself is faster in tempo then the previous ones and Silver Lining is the fastest song to date I think. An interesting build up and a culmination of crazy guitars and drums. Great rock out song.
Nauris – This song as I remember was written from the middle of it. The last thing that we wrote for it were the swells that open the song. The song consists basically of two parts, one leading you to the journey, the other leading you through the journey. The octave pedal is used pretty much in this song and throughout the album too.
Black Book:
Lauris – The shortest song we have written. But it’s perfect the way it is. One day I was fooling with some rhythm at rehearsal place. When Nauris heard it, he played some tapping over it and built more over it. The song has a groovy disco rhythm in the middle, as I liked to call it.
Nauris – The guitar tapping at the start originally was much faster, but to match it beautifully with the drum rhythm I had to take it down a notch. As I remember, I record four different guitar loop layers on this one.
Greenhorn:
Lauris – As we like to call it, the headbang song. A nice rock out song with a cool build up and a headbanging end. We play it live now all the time, and probably will in the future too.
Nauris – We wanted this song to start with a groovy bass tone loop and then build up around it. This song features a weird rhythm, its like a jungle rhythm. An it ends I would say, with a classic hardcore rock out.
Golden Rule:
Lauris – First song from our 10 year old history that features vocals in it. We were jamming one day at our rehearsal place and started talking about the idea including some vocal parts in a new song. We found Rachel Maia Malveira, a singer from Brazil through Instagram. We were impressed by her vocal skills but weren’t sure she would be up for singing on our album. She agreed immediately when we wrote her. And the distance was no problem too. She has her own personal studio where she recorded her parts. Very happy how the song turned out at the end.
Nauris – I came up with the opening riff at the end of one rehearsal. Lauris was already packing his cymbals together. Lot of our songs and ideas for song happen in the spur of the moment. We like to be spontaneous. When we asked Maia to record vocals for the song we gave her free will how to sing. Really liked that she sang in two different languages, English and Portuguese.
Blue Moon:
Lauris – Blue Moon originally was meant to be a small interlude between the other songs in the album. At first it was only Nauris, who played a small clean guitar part. After a while we put some drum parts to it, some more guitar parts. And it turned out to be the longest song of the album. And a perfect ending to it.
Nauris – This song, most of it was written during a bad and life changing period in our lives. Maybe that is why it’s pretty melancholic. It’s my best tremolos parts to date in that one I think.
