Blessed curiosity. And blessed blankets. The truth is that I had never approached the music of Juliet Venegas in a serious way -except, of course, some famous songs that I like- and the other day, when I saw the news of the release of this album that I’m going to tell you about, its beautiful (in my opinion) cover caught my attention in so powerful that I had to listen to it. Hey, that’s cool.
the beginning of Your storya record that the Mexican took seven years to see born (from the celebrated something happens, of 2015), with “En tu orilla”, it could not be more splendid. Since one cannot help but identify venegas with the mainstreamAt first you tend to think you’re going through the typical best songs placement ploy to get attention in these fast listening times. But no, none of that. That moment of perfect pop brilliance unleashed by the opening track of the ten that populate this work is fully extensible to the rest. In fact, the second one is very aptly titled “We Will Shine.” Another champion of categoricalness that, call me easy, ended up succumbing to the charm of a collection that didn’t lower the bar of how it sounded one iota.
we were talking mainstreambut it must be said Your story is the disk on which Juliet VenegasAfter years of relationship with the multinational sonyhe definitely decided to become independent. It is the important Spanish distributor Altafonte the one who is now in charge of moving the product of this author, one of the most massive in Latin pop, who some time ago decided to do things in a different way, in her own way.
It shows, right from the start, in the title song of the album. “Let your past be a part of you”, something that makes you think. While this is not an album with a specific concept dominating the narrative, it is true that the artist seems to encapsulate everything she has learned, both musically and in life, in these songs. leave alone Some pieces, I repeat, of bright pop and which incite to dance, but not without depth in the lyrics, as is moreover usual in venegas.
According to her, after a period focused on the stage (including theatrical ones, with the adaptation of The loverfrom Santiago Lozza), with the pandemic he has rediscovered the pleasure of composing songs with no other goal than personal pleasure. This is perfectly palpable in an absolutely complete work. They are all successes. Or they should be. And it also affects the good ones, those who remain in the head once the immediate effect has worn off. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to single out one track above the others. “Same love”, “I found you”, “La nostalgia”, “Tell me the truth”… each with its own rhythm, its own feeling, but without a doubt all melodically perfect, exultant, and with lyrics as necessary as that of “Caminar sola”, a denunciation of the still evident terror of many women of going home in the evening; or the title, with that lesson learned – and now shared – not to ignore the past, because it is part of who we are.
As a culmination, a nude “Mexican Farewell” from the successful production of his Chilean friend, Alex Anwandter, and with A Juliet Armed with her guitar, her great talent, her self-confidence and of course the whole tradition of Mexican folklore. Thus chisels the end of an album of those that every pop lover, obviously devoid of covers and nonsense, should not only like, but steal. As was my case. A pleasant surprise that definitely joins my particular album of the year list.
Listen to Julieta Venegas – Your story
