It’s Throwback Thursday on Asteria Records, and this week we’re heading back to 2018 for a story about two songs. One is “Infinito”, a warm Spanish-language love song from Razteria featuring jazz guitarist Lucas Rochaix. The other is “Infinity”, its English-language sibling. They came out a month apart, they share a cover, and yet they are completely different songs, musically and lyrically.
Two sides of the same coin
Start with the covers. Both are by Richard Torres, and the “Infinito” art is the color inverse of the “Infinity” art: the same image with its colors flipped, like two sides of the same coin.
“Infinito”: love without borders
“Infinito” (Infinite) is the vocal version of “Con Todos” (With Everyone). Renée wrote the music and lyrics. A few lines from the song: “Somos tan diferentes / Nos queremos igual” and “En el amor no hay fronteras.” Hear it and read the full lyrics on Bandcamp.
The song started at Chafirete Estudio in Olivos, Argentina, where Andres Thomas recorded Lucas Rochaix, Andres Dellacasa and Raian Valença João. Renée then re-tracked and produced it at Truffula Oak Studio, and she arranged, edited and mixed it herself. The result is a Latin groove with a downtempo reggaeton pulse at 92 BPM in A minor, with Lucas’s guitar weaving around the vocal. That unforgettable opening melody you hear the moment the song starts? Lucas wrote it. His signature guitar line became the song’s calling card, and it’s a big part of why “Infinito” feels the way it does. It came out as a single in October 2018 and is part of the album Infinity.
“Infinito” is also a family song. Renée’s brother, Francisco Vicente Peñaloza, sings backing vocals on the track alongside her, so when you hear those harmonies, you’re hearing brother and sister together. Listen on Bandcamp or Spotify.
“Infinity”: a brand-new song in English
Only a month later, in November 2018, came “Infinity.” It is not a translation of “Infinito” but a whole new piece, with its own music and its own lyrics. A few lines: “like sunrays,” “a million miles a minute,” and “Love is infinity.” Hear it and read the full lyrics on Bandcamp. Renée wrote, produced, performed and mixed it herself, Trakworx mastered it, and it was originally released under the artist name Renay. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music, then play the two back to back and hear how one spark became two very different songs.
Two songs, two videos
The songs kept growing side by side into 2019, when each one got its own official music video. “Infinity” came first, on Valentine’s Day 2019. Thank you to everyone who took part: Nancy Rebekah, Novah and Rahman Jamaal, Hannah Rose (the beautiful belly), Diana Hopping Rais for her help with artistic direction and costumes, and E-Moe of PayStyle Music, who made the video. Watch it below or on YouTube.
The “Infinito” video followed in June 2019, with dancers from the Amor do Samba Dance Crew. A big shout-out to everyone who made it happen: E-Moe again behind the camera, Alex Zajicek for additional footage, Tanilee Amor, Anastasia Gordon, Nikita Jew and Samantha Green of Amor do Samba Dance Crew, and Diana Hopping Rais for her production ideas. Watch it below or on YouTube, see how it came together in the behind-the-scenes video, sing along with the official lyric video, or catch the live performance from the Golden Gate Bandshell in 2022.
A third version, and the art of versionizing
The story didn’t stop at two. In 2020, “Infinito” got a third life as the Swede 808 Remix on the Razteria album Pure Love: the same song with a fresh production around Renée’s vocal, and a fun way to hear how much a remix can change the feel of a track.
If you’ve been following Throwback Thursday, you know this is typical Renée. She rarely leaves a song in just one shape. Once a song is written, she keeps reworking it: in another language, in a different genre, as a remix or as a whole new song that grows from the same seed. Last week’s throwback, “Vinchuca,” followed the same path. It was first released in Argentina on Caras de Agente Doble E / Faces of Agent Double E (2007), then found a new home on Maz Raz (2013) with a full Bay Area band, a new horn arrangement and extra percussion. For Renée, a song isn’t finished when it’s released. It keeps growing with every new version.
The people behind the music
Lucas Rochaix: guitar and the signature opening melody on “Infinito”
Lucas wrote the signature melody that opens “Infinito,” and his guitar carries the song from its first notes. Lucas is a guitarist, composer and teacher who studied jazz at the Conservatorio Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires and earned a master’s in jazz and modern music at the Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona. His quintet’s debut album Manovuotometro got a great response from jazz critics. Today he teaches guitar at Shine School of Music in Barcelona, and this August he was on the bill at the first Sons i Sabors festival in Rubió in a jazz duo with Dídac Tranis. Follow him on Instagram or Facebook.
Raian Valença João: bass on “Infinito”
Raian is a session bass player and producer based in Buenos Aires, recording bass tracks for artists in pop, R&B, funk, Latin, electronic and neo-soul. He also plays electric bass in Plantas Horribles, a Buenos Aires group that moves between noise, rock and free jazz.
Justin Weis: mastering on both songs
Justin mastered both “Infinito” and “Infinity” at Trakworx, the mastering and recording studio he runs in South San Francisco and South Lake Tahoe. Follow Trakworx on Instagram.
Drums, percussion, harmonies and the first session
Big thanks to Jayme Arredondo and Andres Dellacasa on live drums, Oscar Reyes on percussion, recorded at Afro Estudio in Barranquilla, Colombia, Renée’s brother Francisco Vicente Peñaloza on backing vocals, and Andres Thomas for recording the first session at Chafirete Estudio.
The people behind the pictures
The cover art for both songs is by Richard Torres, with graphic design by Razteria. Both videos were made by E-Moe, with Diana Hopping Rais shaping the look of each one. Thanks again to Alex Zajicek, the Amor do Samba Dance Crew (Tanilee Amor, Anastasia Gordon, Nikita Jew and Samantha Green), Nancy Rebekah, Novah, Rahman Jamaal and Hannah Rose for bringing these songs to the screen.
Thanks for digging through the vault with us. Put on “Infinito,” then “Infinity,” then the Swede 808 Remix, and we’ll see you next Thursday with another throwback.
