Stream of Passion

The fourth album by Stream of Passion brings closure to a period in which the band was forced to fight for their existence after they’d ended their deal with their record company.

Conflict is a recurring theme on A War of Our Own. The intimate song ‘Secrets’ was inspired by the struggle of 3 year old Mara, who sadly passed away last year after a long battle with Neuroblastoma (a rare and very aggressive form of child-cancer). ‘Don’t Let Go’ is a message of hope to someone who can’t cope with life anymore; and ‘Exile’ involves the internal and emotional struggles faced by an asylum-seeker forced to leave his country behind.

And then there’s the conflict raging in Bovio’s homeland of Mexico, which inspired several songs on the album; the devastating war on drugs, an ongoing battle between armed drug gangs and the Mexican government that has cost approximately 80,000 lives so far. The title song describes the effects the conflict has had on both criminals and victims. ‘Monster’ is a Breaking Bad-esque story about Mexicans who deliberately choose to work for a drug gang, and thus performing criminal acts against their own people. Bovio: “I don’t live there anymore, but I do still feel a sense of responsibility to make a statement about the events taking place in Mexico. But it’s not all doom & gloom! The underlying message of the album is that you should never allow yourself to be a victim to adversity. Get up and follow your dreams! The power to encourage change, to overcome any obstacle lies in everyone of us.”

By being more ambitious than ever, the band has perfected their sound musically. A War of Our Own is more progressive and melodic than the previous albums. The album also contains more symphonic elements and of course the trademark Latin-American passion associated with Stream of Passion. The album was once again produced by Joost van den Broek and contains, alongside their own songs, material written with Daniel Cardoso – keyboardist of the popular progressive rock-band Anathema.

However cliché it may sound, Stream of Passion has made major progress, despite (or possibly thanks to) the challenges they recently faced. In hindsight, it seems that parting ways with the record company was a blessing in disguise. Bovio: “It enabled us to make decisions on our own time. There were no more discussions about the direction our music was taking or about the visual aspects. We had complete freedom. We are no longer accountable to anyone; it’s now up to the fans to judge our work and the album.”

Highlights