Juana Molina "Son"
Argentinean singer Juana Molina’s United States debut ‘Segundo’ quietly but surely worked its way into play lists of discerning listeners. A mixture of acoustic guitars, traditional percussion touches, electronic textures and her disarming vocals, it stands as one of the most evocative and original albums in recent memory. Juana Molina is not easily classified - as her music blurs lines between simple categorization. ‘Segundo’ slowly captured all who would listen, and it continues to do so. It was her first self-produced album, recorded in Juana’s home studio. It would take her a year and a half to finish. She loved the freedom she felt, waking up in the morning and going into her studio, turning on the computer and getting lost in her own world every day. 2004’s follow-up ‘Tres Cosas’ was equally revered, as Jon Pareles of the New York Times named it a top 10 record of the year. Two years worth of touring followed, including runs with Savath & Savalas, David Byrne, Belle and Sebastian, and Sam Prekop and appearances at Coachella and the Montreal Jazz Festival. This spring, she released her new self-produced album ‘Son.’
“When I started to write the songs for this record ‘Son,’ a new element that may have been hidden for a long time appeared; the randomness of the combination of sounds in nature. Each bird has a particular singing; nevertheless this singing is always different. It is not a pattern; it’s a drawing, a sound and a mode, only a few elements that each bird combines in a new way each time. In the same way, sometimes I chose to sing a melodic drawing I develop for the song. Verses are alike, but never the same (rios seco, no seas antipática) other times I chose to sing a repetitive melody. What changes here and moves randomly is, for example, a keyboard. It is like overlapping two different loops, with no synchronicity at all. One very rhythmic and the other one more lose. When you play both, at the same time, the loose loop will provoke a changing harmony, because their beats will never be in the same place. This causes a moving harmony.”
“During the tours, I also applied my new ideas to the old songs, that’s why, when I got back home, I recorded the first thing that came to mind using these new ideas. In October, when I sat down to put all I had for the record together I had the huge and pleasant surprise that I almost had the record done. ‘Son’ is a step forward on the same path I started with Segundo and followed with Tres Cosas.”
Utilizing guitar, keyboards, cymbals, gongs, bombo legüero, and a bass, ‘Son’ was recorded and produced entirely at home by Juana Molina.
“A luminous combination of fragile folk and bubbling electronica, Tres Cosas balances stark, seesawing melodies with computer moans and sparkles, like some organic-digital mix of Nick Drake and Brian Eno.” (A+) - Entertainment Weekly
“Her songs are intimacy defined, spinning tight, whispered harmonies over dizzying structures reminiscent of Erik Satie.” — LA Weekly
“Dazzlingly original...” (****) — Blender Magazine
