“La Vida es un Baile” opens with a call-and-response refrain that runs through the whole track: “la tierra llama“. Marimba de chonta, percussion, bass and voices sit alongside keyboards, guitar and drums, pulling Afro-Colombian Pacific traditions into amplified and electronic territory. The lyrics describe life along the river: a channel for trade and travel, but also a region scarred by decades of armed conflict in Colombia.

Nuevos Ríos pairs Canalón de Timbiquí, led by singer Nidia Góngora, with Toulouse trio Reco Reco. They started working together in April 2022 in Timbiquí, on Colombia’s Pacific coast, then recorded again in Puylaurens, France, that June. “La Vida es un Baile” appears on their self-titled debut album, Nuevos Ríos, out 27 March on ZZK Records. The album draws on both sessions, mixing the acoustic marimba and vocal traditions of Timbiquí with Reco Reco’s electronic framework.

Góngora has worked with Quantic, Ondatrópica and The Bongo Hop, bringing her voice to projects that cross cumbia, Afro-Colombian rhythms and global collaborations. Reco Reco work with trance-driven South American rhythms from their base in Toulouse, using loops, samples and live drums to rework traditional patterns.

The videoclip for “La Vida es un Baile” was filmed at Plaza de Mercado Galería during Feria de Cali, showing the group performing in a market setting surrounded by vendors and crowds.

Stream “La Vida es un Baile” and get your copy of the album HERE