Following a lengthy absence SIAMESA

Returning with the right word and reciting the right verb — the one that traces the path laid out by the melody. After all this time, the image the mirror reflects back to us. Front and back are inseparable partners and necessary allies in giving voice to the inevitable poetry within.

Born in Lezo, the Guipúzcoa-based guitarist and composer Ibon Salaberria began his studies at the Tomás Garbizu Municipal Conservatory before going on to study composition techniques at the Pasaia Musika School of Music. A key figure in the music scene of his hometown, he made his first recording at the age of twenty, contributing two compositions to the Lezorrotik collection. He was also one of the founders of the legendary rock band Desoreka. This project fused rock and funk and was heavily influenced by bands such as Faith No More and Living Colour. After reaching the finals of the 6th Euskadi Gaztea demo contest, the band recorded their only two albums to date: Desoreka (2005, Gaztelupeko Hotsak) and Funambulista (2008). Following a lengthy absence, Ibon Salaberria is presenting his debut solo album, Siamesa.

Two key figures are essential to the success of Siamesa: Josu Elberdin Badiola and Maider Zapiain. Josu Elberdin Badiola is a pianist, singer and composer from Gipuzkoa who holds degrees in piano and voice. He is a professor at the Pasaia Municipal School of Music and an organist at the Church of Our Lady of Carmen in Trintxerpe (Pasaia). His work as a composer has earned him numerous awards and led to his pieces being published by the most prestigious publishers. As well as contributing as a pianist to the album, his work on the backing vocals throughout the entire project is particularly noteworthy. Maider Zapiain, a cellist, graduated from the San Sebastián Conservatory and teaches at Musikene and the Francisco Escudero Professional Conservatory of Music. She balances this role with a successful career as a performer. She has played with the Basque National Symphony Orchestra and participated in musicals and theatre productions, collaborating with artists such as Iñaki Salvador, Peio Ramírez, Maddi Oihenart and Eñaut Elorrieta.

Recorded by Gorka Urra at Lezotiko Studios in Oiartzun and produced by Urra and Ibon Salaberria, Siamesa is an intimate, deeply personal and profoundly evocative album. It is a faithful representation of the creative evolution and maturity experienced by an artist who, after years of recording silence, returns to delight us with compositions of sheer beauty. This is a turning point in the Guipuzcoan artist’s career, where emotional narrative and dazzling instrumental warmth intertwine to become two sides of the same coin. In this long-awaited return, Igor Salaberria presents an organic, essential work that goes straight to the listener’s heart. Tracks such as the choral piece Esker Mila and the breathtaking instrumental beauty of Bilatzen reveal an aesthetic crafted with extreme care. The album moves through singer-songwriter territory in Orok dirudieder and reinterprets Negu joan da ta — an adaptation of the original song by the band Zea Mays — featuring Txuma Murugarren on vocals. Ibon Salaberria treats us to his lyrical poetry beneath Lausotuz ethereal chords, weaving dynamics, tension and meaningful silences into a folk-inspired arrangement of Begi-ezti, featuring Ángel Unzu on guitar, Gorka Urra on bass and shakers, and Beñat Ralla on cajón. Siamesa serves as an emotional vehicle and catalyst for its creator’s remarkable ability to craft moving atmospheres in tracks such as Prest Nago, to compose music for lyrics written by Diego Núñez Lozano and performed by Olatz Otxoa ‘Otxi’ in Vuelvo a las andadas and to bring a close to a body of work that undoubtedly represents the creative zenith of the artist´s  career, with the delightful instrumental Aitonaren Gogoetak.

Ibon Salaberria returns with unerring harmony and a precise sequence that imbues meaning into the word. Substance and form are the two sides of the coin that make up the poetry that has always pulsed within him. These indispensable confidants and necessary collaborators make it possible for him to return and create an album like Siamesa.

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