Juana Molina might be producing delicate acoustic pop
songs tainted with electronic textures, but, she has
already made a serious mark with Segundo,
her second album and first to be heard outside of her
native Argentina, released last year in the US. Following
a tour of the US, culminating with a live performance
at this year’s Coachalla Festival and a solo gig
in New York, Molina was recently personally invited
by David Byrne to open for his summer tour. She also
performed at this year’s Sonar in Barcelona, ahead
of the European release of Segundo.
Only a few weeks on and its follow-up, Tres Cosas
(Three Things) casts its poetic shadows and
sun-drenched melodies over a summer that is turning
all too traditionally British.
If Segundo
offered some beautifully contrasted sonic landscapes
on which Molina’s fragile acoustic guitar and
bittersweet vocals were like shimmering stars, Tres
Cosas appears at once more introvert and stripped
down. Although entirely recorded at home, in pretty
similar conditions to its predecessor, Tres Cosas
is Molina rediscovering the very essence of her music.
If she still uses discreet layered electronics all the
way through, the focus is on the crystalline aspect
of her acoustic guitar and on the voice and harmonies.
This allows her to reveal further the human force driving
these thirteen songs, retaining the fragility of songs
such as ¿Quien?, ¡Qué
Llueva! or El Desconfiado, but adding
some new found spontaneity. The melodies and arrangements
denote a greater maturity of style and a more assured
approach. Here, Molina doesn’t feel the need to
retreat behind her music so much, yet she refrains from
exposing her soul for too long, allowing for a hint
of mystery to linger.
With Segundo
proving very successful in the US (the album was voted
Best World Music Album of 2003 by Entertainment Weekly
and has just been nominated for the 2004 Shortlist Prize,
the US equivalent to the Mercury Prize), Juana Molina
could have chosen to switch from Spanish to English
for Tres Cosas. Far from succumbing to commercialism,
Juana still sings in her native language, except on
Insensible, which closes the album, sung in
French, a reflection of the six years she spent in exile
in Paris when growing up after her family fled a military
coup. This allows her to fully control her artistic
environment all the way through and retain the fragile
aspect of her music, yet refining her songwriting further.
With this third album, Juana Molina firmly establishes
her own musical universe and defines her own rules.
With delicate arrangements and just enough electronic
textures to paint subtle moods, Molina produces with
Tres Cosas a truly accomplished and mature
piece of work that no decent record collection would
be complete without.
4.8/5 |
