Perhaps most known for his lucha libre guise as Mexicans With Guns, San Antonio’s Ernest Gonzales
wears many masks. Gonzales doesn’t buckle under the weight of multiple personae. Rather, he draws
inspiration from his multifaceted background, producing a diverse swath of sounds covering various
states of introspection.
’Natural Traits’ is an LP that blends Gonzales’ gift for melodic songwriting with his understanding of
electronic craftsmanship. Composed of vivid rhythms, emotive melodies and aerial harmonies, the
album blurs the lines between
analogue and digital worlds. Gonzales juxtaposes live instrumentation with classic electronic tropes to
produce tracks that float, flit, bump, and pulse with grace and subdued movement.
Tracks like "Peaks & Valleys", "Beneath the Surface", and "In The End" highlight EG’s ambient side
with swirls of trilling guitar chords, painting an analogue soundscape of ’natural’ emotion and sincere
serenity. Others, like "The Heroic
Lives of Particles" and "The Scattered Thoughts of Raindrops", bumble with digital angst and glitchy
disquietude, venturing deep into the technological world and casting a shadow of electronic mystique.
"When Synchronicity Prevails" represents perhaps the perfect balance of polarities, with luscious synth
waves and delicate guitar lines materializing halfway through with a four-onthe- floor rhythm of tactile
texture that round out its ethereal feel.