Although it might not be as obvious to the masses of music fans still comparing all of today’s music to the sounds of the 1960s, ‘70s and ’80s, the best of the new 21st century rock albums can indeed borrow from multiple decades yet still manage to sound remarkably vital.

A good case in point is Venezuelan born / South Florida-based Jose Roman Duque (aka: Jorodu) who gained notice last year by way of his drumming on the 2025 release of Echoes Of Tomorrow by World Beat / instrumental fusion guitarist Randy Armstrong. Turns out the sound of Jose’s 2026 album, released under the name Jorodu, The Hummingbird Conspiracy does in fact transcend decades of stylized rock and comes up a new and different kind of sound.f

With its 8 songs, clocking in at 49 minutes, THC isn’t some conventional music tribute to the early 1970s glam-rock heyday of Bowie and Roxy Music or the sounds and styles of any number of post-New Wave mid 1970s bands that followed in Bowie’s wake.

In fact, The Hummingbird Conspiracy takes the best of then and invents a whole new 21st century gloom and doom rock vocabulary that would make David Bowie blink. Plus, add in the fact that Jorodu is a native of Caracas, Venezuela and yet can deliver a global spanning masterpiece like The Hummingbird Conspiracy almost defies logic.

While Jose Duque’s drumming on Randy Armstrong’s album is much more than just serviceable, noting that many of his prior solo efforts are steeped in instrumental jazz fusion. That said, this 2026 album by Jorodu shines a completely different light on his self-contained musicianship and uncanny compositional genius.

What’s even more fascinating is that Jorodu not only composed and produced the album, yet he also more than ably performs every instrument, not just drums and percussion, but also all manners of electronic keyboards and tasty guitar sounds in the finest spirit of guitar geniuses like Bowie and Ronno as well as Roxy’s guitar legend Phil Manzanera. With every track sung by Jorodu quite effectively in English, the sound of THC contains a near operatic sense to it making the album a kind of modern day Goth-Rock Opera.

The hair-raising subject matter in the song lyrics virtually serves as a soundtrack to the rampant negativity, wars and divisions of the 2020’s, underscoring that we're living in the most divisive and frightening decade since the 1930’s. With embers of death, war and all forms of tyranny burning in our collective rear view mirror and constantly speeding up from the sides, THC imparts a sonic ingenuity crisscrossing far beyond the realm of mere rational thought.

A few electric guitarists, friends of the artist, fills in some additional sonic spaces, yet start to finish the sound stage is pure Jorodu. The fact that he has several solo albums are more purely in the instrumental jazz rock realm, in addition to his drumming with Randy Armstrong, makes the release of The Hummingbird Conspiracy a most idiosyncratic introduction to the unique music and words of Jose Roman Duque.