Please note this is an old page and Fly Global Music has now moved. Please follow this link and search for the entry in the new site.

The follow-up to Segundo, the album that introduced this quirky talent to the glopbal music scene in 2003, is full of Juana’s deep and breathy multi-layered vocals, acoustic guitar picking and sparse, carefully structured, hypnotic electronica. The result is an album gets under your skin and becomes a seductive, addictive itch that needs regular scratching.

Her sound sits somewhere between that of French chanteuse Camille, and Beth Orton’s more experimental folktronic work. Like Camille, Molina likes to loop her voice and instrumentation until the listener is coated in an ethereal, mesmerizing blanket of sound. But like Orton she bases the compositions around the guitar, which keeps the music from becoming too mannered and arty.

Highlights include ‘Malherido’, where a dubby banjo-like guitar sound underpins a tune whose sonic experimentation recalls Laurie Anderson, with Juana Molina scatting over some feverishly avant-garde electronica.

Fans of The Raincoats will like the multi-layered looped other-worldly doo-wop vocals, feline wailing and exquisite repeated Afro-acoustic guitar refrain on the terrifically enchanting ‘Un Beso Llega’. It’s one of the few tracks to contain (very light) percussion, as does the mellifluous ‘Yo No’, a song that would be a stonewall candidate for chartdom were it sung in English.

It’s a great pity that Juana Molina had to cancel her recent tour through shoulder problems, because it would have been fascinating to see how, or if, she manages to transfer this exceptional sound into the live setting.

If this recording gets the coverage it deserves, however, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of this singularly talented woman.

Links:
Juana Molina’s rather charming site, which has plenty going for it, including downloads.
Domino Records