Xavier Herrero |
Madrid (EFE) to Ariana Grande going through the folkloric ones she covered as a child.
“This album is an attitude, a bit like a meme with which you laugh a little at yourself by taking things too intensely and romanticizing the drama,” this artist from Malaga explains to EFE before going on the market after a long wait for “Bellodrama” (Sony Music).
Five years have passed since the publication of “Index” (2018), which was, in her own words, “the debut of a girl who has sung since she was little and who loves music but who was yet to be known”, with a conglomerate of songs released previously “but without a concept or a common sound”.
“I didn’t see the point of making another album until I discovered more about myself and the sound with which I said: ‘This is me'”, reveals Mena (Estepona, Málaga, 1997), who finally felt that call a few years ago. two years.
The persistence of that girl who began to make her musical first steps on a regional channel, who later worked under the orders of Pedro Almodóvar in “La piel que habito” and who was Marisol for television, finally seemed to hit the mark in what musical after looking towards Italy instead of Latin America with “Se iluminaba” with Fred de Palma and “A un paso de la luna” with Rocco Hunt.
“From Málaga to the world”, as she proclaimed in those songs, she became the Spanish artist who had never shipped the most copies in Italy, but there was still another evolution to be seen in her search for style from that italorreggaeton when covering a well-known cut. different, “Musica leggerissima” by Colapesce Dimartino.
“With ‘Música ligera’ I felt that there was a change, that we reached a more adult audience, and that is that good songs are understood by everyone. I myself fell in love since I heard it and it helped me to get to know myself and to know what I am and where I want to go”, says this single.
More recently, another important song has come to light, “Me He Pillado x Ti”, in which he sings with Natalia Lacunza after launching the proposal at the last dinner at the Los40 Music Awards.
“I had written it since April 2021 and I always perceived that her voice was going to be incredible because she also has a lot of velvet when she sings, in addition to the fact that I love her music and her perspective on things. And she is the artist who has never made things easier for me when it comes to collaborating!”, she highlights.
All this artistic journey has been collected in “Bellodrama”, a “long album for current times” as she herself admits, because together with a dozen new songs such as “Un clásico” or “Slowly” she has not wanted to leave out all those successes that had the favor of the public and have brought her here.
“I don’t like labels, because today I’m with ‘Música ligera’, but tomorrow suddenly I’ll do ‘Las 12’ and I want to have the freedom to continue browsing between styles that I like. An artist has to have fun and experiment”, defends the one who recognizes herself as an admirer of Ariana Grande, but also of the flamenco of Diego El Cigala and Niña Pastori or “of the fair and the rebujitos” a la Andy and Lucas.
To better understand the philosophy of “Bellodrama”, which qualifies as “the enjoyment of melancholy”, Mena published a varied list of Spotify under a profile called “La diva doliente” in which Luis Miguel, La Oreja de Van Gogh or “Heart of a poet” by Jeanette.
“I love it! My father has played me a lot of music from the 70s, which is my favorite decade, that’s why Mina is also there”, explains the artist, aware that these influences do not seem to be related to each other. “For me, the important thing is the stories they tell, because I am a fan of stories,” she insists.
As fate would have it, among the many albums released this Friday, in addition to his, is “RR”, the EP by Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro, a competition that he claims not to fear.
“I don’t take this as a competition. I’ve been working on this album for two years and the only thing I want is for it to see the light now to start doing concerts. On the other hand, it’s a pop album and I understand that it’s not the typical album that makes you a ‘top 10’ on Spotify, because it’s not urban and it needs time”, he points out.
Among those “shows” that await, there is a very special one that will mark his debut at the Wizink Center in Madrid on September 9, while he caresses other wishes, such as taking his tour outside of Spain or publishing his first album entirely in Italian with new topics.