Guitarist Magdalena Abrego has stepped away from Deerlady, the hypnotic indie-rock duo that earned a Stereogum Band To Watch title in 2024. Earlier this year, Abrego announced her departure from the project. Now she unveils Xolo, her first solo release, a speculative mood piece that unfolds as a conceptual study of loss.
The title Xolo is not a clever nod to the word “solo.” Rather, the album is named after the xoloitzcuintli, a Mexican dog breed that, in cultural tradition, signifies the passage toward the afterlife. Abrego grew up with immigrant parents in Chicago, studied guitar performance at the New England Conservatory of Music, and later became a faculty member there. The record was tracked in Brooklyn, with Abrego performing on vocals, guitar, synth, electronics, and ocarina, interwoven with intensely personal field recordings. Only two other musicians contribute: bass clarinetist Allison Burik and pianist Sonya Belaya. Here is what Abrego has to say about the project:
Lately, I’ve begun to notice how quietly our capacity to form deep connections is under threat, particularly as we’re urged to embrace individualism, view ourselves as self-sufficient, and accept displacement as an ordinary consequence of modern life. I’ve come to believe that connection isn’t something we inherit; it’s something we must practice, protect, and even fight to preserve.
For me, processing what I’ve been through so publicly feels like an act of rebellion against the structures that push us to carry our suffering alone. I’ve learned that there’s a kind of power in looking back at those who came before us—not as mere relics, but as living presences in the ways we show care, in the gestures we repeat without knowing where they began, and in what we choose to pass on. Perhaps survival isn’t simply about making it through the darkness; perhaps it’s about learning how to become a light that someone else, not yet here, will one day recognize.
Xolo is released in full today. At present, the album is available only for purchase and streaming on Bandcamp. Take a listen below.
