La Boca Junta

Resistiré (Banda Sonora Original "Élite")

Resistiré (Original Soundtrack "Élite")

Lo Tengo Claro

Jackson Chatman (FUN MUSIC) music with a steady drum beat, upbeat acoustic rhythm, and a distorted electric guitar driving behind it all has the perfect combination of indie soul and rock ‘n’ roll roots.

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Nuggets of Gold

We have been waiting impatiently for new songs from LA CASA AZUL to arrive. And it clearly wasn’t going to be an easy album. After having reached larger audiences, after having reached mainstream levels with their independent proposal, far from what the mainstream was used to, after having been heard both in small independent festivals as well as the return of Operación Triunfo, after having remixed Camilo Sesto’s “Vivir Así Es Morir De Amor” or having masterfully reconstructed and reinvented Nino Bravo’s whole album. From composing and producing FANGORIA’s latest hits, from writing songs for TV shows and movies, from being a judge on the talent show “Oh Happy Day” on TV3 or the teacher in the Operación Triunfo academy, from continuing with radio collaborations, from writing for different media, from writing and producing five songs for the children’s cartoon show “PINY: Instituto de Nueva York” (which Ali Howard of LUCKY SOUL sings on), from winning a Goya with a rumba, from DJing in the most important clubs in the country or making the latest version of “Sálvame” (made popular in Spain by Bibi Andersen in 1980) to headline the popular show on Tele 5. There have been so many things, and with so much variety, and above all they have all been created from the most independent spirit with the deepest love of music, that Guille Milkyway can be defined as unique and incomparable, and “La Gran Esfera” will be the album that confirmed this, the definitive emergence, eternity.

And the thing is this album needs to be analyzed from two very different angles. First, that of an artist whose discourse faces the facts of time, who maintains his spacey dreams, but whose lyrics are being weighed down with disappointment, reality and the failure of mankind, the pessimism that was hidden in the escapism we saw in “La Polinesia Meridional”. But there is also the angle of an author who is a relentless music lover, an infallible machine for mixing influences, and who takes an unheard of step forward on this new album, crossing boundaries that few have dared to touch: the line that separates commercial music from independent music, a frontier that has so many preconceptions around it that many artists have been forced to go around it without ever being able to look back. On “La Gran Esfera”, Guille Milkyway knocks the wall down, playing with a million references, current and past, greatest hits and underground, tracks for the dance floor and tracks to break our hearts. You can hear hints of LAS AVES, Etienne Daho, Donna Summer, BOY PABLO, THE BEACH BOYS, VIDEO AGE, ROOSEVELT, ROBOTAKI, BLOSSOMS, THE GO! TEAM and ELO. And all of this without losing even a drop of his own personality.

What is “La Gran Esfera”? Is it the awareness of a painful existence? The bittersweet celebration of a planet full of life and pain? A planetary vision of the human condition? We would need a lot more time and space to read into this more deeply, to analyze all the directions this complex, multifaceted album points toward, while still being highly danceable, without any concessions to the mid-tempo, addictive and catchy, like LA CASA AZUL’s best trademark work. That’s where its difficulty lies. That’s where we can begin to decipher the challenge, the incredible proposal that Guille Milkyway brings to the table. Are you ready to look inside “La Gran Esfera”?

La Gran Esfera

El Momento

Every time we begin to listen to a new LA BIEN QUERIDA album, we are faced with the question of what we are going to find this time, because we know that it’s going to be something completely new and different from what we have heard up to now. The title of this new release is “Fuego” (fire, in Spanish), which corresponds to the south, to red, to summer, to the heart - the fire of passion, of love and hate, the fire of the spirit and intuition.

It was difficult to think about this album after the masterpiece that was “Premeditación, Nocturnidad Y Alevosía”. But the creative universe of LA BIEN QUERIDA is immense and is used to having to outdo itself, handling a wide range of references and enjoying the process of erasing musical and lyrical limits. And “Fuego” is a kind of self-reconfiguration, a rediscovery, because musically there is a bit of everything we already know, but transgressed: the purity and insolence of “Romancero”, the Latin and tropical fusion of “Fiesta”, the electronic force of “Ceremonia” and the mournful darkness of “Premeditación, Nocturnidad Y Alevosía”. This is all represented on the incredible album cover photo by Pablo Zamora,with the artistic direction of Pepe Leal and most of all an idea from Ana herself based on the “Things Organized Neatly” movement. The photo shows her surrounded by instruments, pencils, paintbrushes, albums, and everything that has led to the creation of her own universe.

Ana explains it so well: “The melancholy that seeps out of my songs always includes a positive side that has allowed me to rely heavily on life, and this album more than ever shows that positive side. I have tried to see the bright side, the glass half-full. This album talks about the desire that defends life, pleasure self-fulfillment, freedom. The process of living through our desires, which are not dark or confusing but light and clear”.

The sacred fire of guilty desires, incomprehensible feelings, of the irrational and the vital. The fire that burns in every note of this album, determined to never burn out. “Fuego” feels like a moment of reflection, of acceptance and reconfiguration, an infinite, limitless look ahead. This is a new step in a journey toward making Ana Fernández-Villaverde’s songs the journey of our lives, told through emotions and feelings.

Fuego

Dinamita

After have made that trilogy that was “Premeditación, Nocturnidad Y Alevosía”, and her last album, “Fuego”, it should not come as a surprise that the sixth album of Ana Fernández-Villaverde‘s career is called “Brujería”. But the game of mirrors is radical. Because, “Brujería” is probably the most open and direct about emotions, where the songs touch tangentially on the mystery to dive in more deeply lyrically and epically. It is an album about love, brutal and raw, without metaphors, as is her style. Darkness and light, and each song leads unequivocally into the next.

“Love and falling in love with something or someone is full of witchcraft. When we fall in love we feel like we are under a spell cast by the object of our affection. The effect is similar to a highly addictive drug; it creates strong ties in our mind between pleasure and the thing we desire” Ana says. Titles like “La Verdad”, “¿Qué?”, “Te Quiero”, “La Fuerza” and “Miedo” make a point of this direct and impressive concept, which is challenging at times.

This is an elaborate album, conceptual but accessible, because we have all felt like we were under the spell of something or someone. Ana takes a giant leap in composition, lyrics and harmonic progressions. “Brujería” makes it clear that we are looking at her best work to date, a collecting of stunning, heartbreaking songs that are classic and modern at the same time, that position her alongside the great composers of our times in this country. The sonic design is careful and precise with the production work of Carlos René (AXOLOTES MEXICANOS), a sonic universe that reminds us of the different artists of recent eras: NEW ORDER and THE CURE, but also LANA DEL REY, M83, BEACH HOUSE and CIGARRETTES AFTER SEX. DEPECHE MODE and KRAFTWERK. Synthesizers and strings to transmit the mystery and the magic.

The cover art, based on a photo taken by Pablo Zamora, is inspired by the legendary cover of “Midnight Creeper” by the American saxophonist Lou Donaldson (Blue Note, 1968). It is an album with close ties to witchcraft and magic; each song is related to a spell. Everything is designed by Mario Rivière (whom Ana knows from of the book covers from “La Felguera” publishers) and is a combination of illustrations, with drawings of the spells - one for each song - that can be practiced at the alter that is included in the physical release of the album (vinyl and CD format). With gold ink and red vinyl, the album packaging itself is a work of art.

And yes, there are new stellar collaborations. Juan Pedrayes (CAROLINA DURANTE, AXOLOTES MEXICANOS) on drums; guitars by Mario del Valle (CAROLINA DURANTE, AXOLOTES MEXICANOS), and Lucas Vidaur (AXOLOTES MEXICANOS, CONFETI DE ODIO); Lucía Palacio is on cello and Esther Muñoz is on violins. And of course, David Rodríguez (LA ESTRELLA DE DAVID) sings on “Déjame Entrar” and plays the guitar on “Déjame Entrar”, “Me Envenenas” and “¿Qué?”; J (LOS PLANETAS) sings on “Domingo Escarlata” and “La Fuerza”, and Diego Ibáñez (CAROLINA DURANTE) also sings on “¿Qué?”.

“Brujería” has its origins in the book “Fossil Angels” by Allan Moore which says that: “Art is magic and magic is art”. Writing is a magical act of invocation and alchemical transformation in action. Duchamp, Blake, Baudelaire, Kandinski, Lautréamont, Mondrian, Dalí, Picasso… They were all connected with the work of mystics and occultists. “Brujería” is an album that shines in its conception as a whole and that’s how it needs to be listening to. Moving, wrenching, and universal; it is impossible not to fall under its spell.

Brujería

¿Qué? (feat. Diego Ibáñez)

With just a demo, Ana Fernández-Villaverde captivated thousands of music lovers. The songs start with a simple principle but also with a disarming beauty, fabulous poetry about falling in and out of love that remind us of Los Planetas but without the noise, Sr. Chinarro but without the irony, the sweetness of Le Mans, the bared feelings of The Magnetic Fields or the romanticism of Family. More than 150.000 listens on her Myspace led to first "Romancero" and then "Fiesta" being widely acclaimed albums in Spain, always supported by the production work of David Rodríguez (La Estrella de David, Beef).

"Ceremonia" is completely different from past works. A dark album, with a sound that uses the most innovative styles of the 70s, kraut-rock, post-punk, and the techno of Kraftwerk and New Order.

"Premeditación, Nocturnidad Y Alevosía" is clearly influenced by The Cure or OMD, but also by Chromatics, M83 or Franco Battiato.

"Fuego" is the most stylistically diverse of all the albums because musically there is a bit of everything we already know, but transgressed.

"Brujería" is the  sixth album. It is out in September 2019. This time the game of mirrors is radical. Because is probably the most open and direct about emotions, where the songs touch tangentially on the mystery to dive in more deeply lyrically and epically. It is an album about love, brutal and raw, without metaphors, as is her style. Darkness and light, and each song leads unequivocally into the next.

Resistiré (Original Soundtrack "Élite")

La Bien Querida

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