I saw Cordovas once. Way back in 2018. A gorgeous, sun-dappled night, the sort that makes you slow your pace without realising it, and it suited them perfectly.
Back then, Joe Firstman explained that the band tended to play songs almost continuously because, as he put it, “it’s a little too formal to have people clapping.” He wanted flow, not interruption. Less performance, more feeling. That same relaxed, unforced spirit runs right through “Back To Life,” their fifth studio album, and it’s hard not to feel like you’re being gently invited into their world rather than presented with it.
This is a short record — under half an hour all told — but it never feels slight. If anything, its brevity is part of the charm. Nothing lingers longer than it should. Nothing needs to prove itself.
“Higher Every Time” opens the door with a smile. It’s glorious. A warm breeze of a song, lap steel weaving with electric guitar, harmonies floating rather than landing. You don’t so much listen to it as lean into it.
The title track, “Back To Life,” is piano-led and quietly searching, but it never sounds troubled. There’s a contentment here, even when the questions don’t have neat answers — a sense of acceptance that’s deeply comforting.
“Josefina” feels utterly timeless, like it could have existed in any decade and somehow already has. That’s a recurring trick Cordovas pull off with alarming ease. These songs don’t shout for attention; they just are.
“Step Outside” carries the gently sobering thought that “this might be the best we get,” but the guitar work is exquisite, lifting the sentiment rather than weighing it down. And when “Lost At Sea” rolls in with a touch more rhythm, it underlines one of the album’s great constants: the musicianship is immaculate without ever drawing attention to itself. At this point, if you haven’t thought about The Allman Brothers, you will now — and rightly so.
“Sunset” shifts things again, strings nudging the band into different territory, though it remains every bit as lovely. Then comes “Wings,” where soul — and even jazz — tints the edges. Kamasi Washington takes centre stage here, and the atmosphere is so vivid you can even hear dogs barking in the background. It feels lived-in, human, real.
The lap steel returns to devastating effect on “Mexico Home.” Cordovas have always carried subtle Latin flavours in their sound, and here they bloom beautifully, adding warmth without tipping into pastiche.
“Black Sand” is fuller, richer, almost hinting at what this band might sound like if they ever decided to go bigger. But they don’t. They never do. And that choice feels deliberate. The refrain — “trying to do the best that I can” — lodges itself in your head and, in many ways, sums up the entire record’s philosophy.
When I wrote about that 2018 show, I described Cordovas as gloriously understated. “Back To Life” is exactly that, and then some. No grand statements. No forced drama. Just warmth, flow, craft, and an overwhelming sense of beauty.
Sometimes, that’s more than enough.
Rating: 9/10
