Soleá Morente does justice to her name and surname. A long tour of almost two years ends that revolves around her parents and the album Aurora and Enrique, the great Morente who renews and adventures flamenco to unsuspected limits.
His little daughter, all of his offspring are dedicated to music, forwards a new single that will premiere live this Thursday at the Sala Apolo 2 in Barcelona and that is included in a new album by Casa Azul led by Guille MilkyWay and called Gitana María (Elefant Records).
Soleá, 38 years old, a philologist by training (her father showed her the path to the classroom knowing that she would end up between guitars and studies) speaks to Magazine with courage and an enviable clarity of ideas, with a sensitivity and security that she did not always have because, As she herself indicates, and because she has the illustrious surname, they looked at her with a magnifying glass with her works that are unclassifiably beautiful.
In parallel, he experiments and continues studying on his Sunday program on Radio 3 “Honey, you know I’m from another planet.” A happy, playful, fun and serious conversation with an artist who likes her father, with a taste for experimenting and without fear of embarking on wild paths. “But at first it was difficult, they looked at me a lot,” she confesses.
Does the tour end in Barcelona?
The tour for the latest album, Aurora y Enrique, ends here, yes, although we are already combining some works with others, but yes, we culminate in the Apolo. It’s been a surprisingly intense tour, we’ve been very lucky because it’s lasted almost two years since the album came out. The album was very well received, it has given me many good things because I have been able to connect with the public in a very beautiful way, in a way that had not happened until now.
And why do you think this has been the case?
It is an album composed and written by myself and that has a lot to do with this. When it came to interpreting, the emotional aspect was through the roof because I explained the love story of my parents. Everything has been little by little, but it has gone well.
I stew it, I eat it, sometimes it turns out very well.
I think that the public is little by little understanding me, I am connecting better. At the beginning, the message of my work… I am aware that the message of my work is not understood at first like the radio program, it is like the radio program, it is a bit eclectic…
Two years on tour is a lot…
Yes, we have done everything, big small festivals, towns, fairs, even Gubión, I have connected with a lot of people, it has been very special. I gave birth to this creature, I took care of it, it will accompany me for the rest of my life. The others too.
You say you are a minority singer…really?
Yes I recognize it and I like it. It is the path I have chosen. If we compare myself to other artists who have impressive sellouts and all the tickets sold, yes I am. I’m halfway there, but closer to the minorities. It’s what I’m looking for and what I want, I’m not going to deny it: we all like success… but on this album there is no great success or reggaeton…
I thank you because there is no reggaeton…
I have nothing against it, maybe Guille Milkyway’s album has other things, but this one was so small, so tiny…
This latest single, Gitana María, appears on the Casa Azul album. With the lyrics you connect depending on your age sometimes, and with the music you let yourself be surprised.
The stanzas with colloquials tell a story of heartbreak. And the chorus is a popular lyric, based on what the gypsies of Sacramonte sing on Gypsy Day. It is a dialogue between the present and the past. Guille’s music is more futuristic, there are different atmospheres. Sometimes part of the audience connects with the lyrics, the music, both or neither. I don’t make it easy for myself, I can’t help it. It comes from my soul or heart. What I have done is very intimate, very personal, very delicate. I put myself in my mother’s place, the one who stays on earth, because my father is leaving.
I’m imagining the tears…
It has been a very cathartic process, it moved me a lot. The truth is that the song ‘yesterday’ and just manifested itself to me: the chorus says: “Yesterday you left and you told me to sing and not cry, to throw sorrows into the air but not to forget you. When I had them I didn’t know whether to publish them or not, but then I took the step, I passed them on to some friends… I did it during a pandemic to take refuge. I was at my parents’ house, surrounded by visible elements, I had time to talk to my mother, the first time she saw it…
I think his way of working is a bit like his father’s, breaking something to see what’s inside. You don’t make it easy for yourself either?
I rely a lot on research and that leads to results that are sometimes unknown, that I did not expect. It is a continuous search in life and work. My father broke many molds, it must be something genetic, experimentation. He is not intentional, it is not easy at all and it has its price. I don’t understand art without risk and that always leads to placing myself in the abyss. Each album is an achievement, an atmosphere, but every time I feel more confident in knowing what I need. I saw that when I was very little with my father and I will die like this
Is carrying the last name a burden or does it give you wings? I saw him once in the editorial office of La Vanguardia. She levitated with her cowboy boots. I turned around wanting to stop and say hello but I didn’t. I thought an angel with long hair and sucks had passed by.
(Laughs) It’s a huge responsibility, it’s quite an adventure. It is and it will be. But it is lucky to have such an incredible family and a father who is so great as a person and as an artist. He prepared us. You say it well, he was like an angel, he had premonitory gifts. I studied Hispanic philology. When I finished selectivity he asked me: What now? We all dedicate ourselves to flamenco, even the dog performs bulerías (laughs). We all sang, danced and played the guitar, he did the choruses, the clapping.
But he went to university
Yes, and when I finished my degree we went down to the studio and he told me that the best tool was continuous preparation and acquiring one’s own personality. The last name is a luxury and calling myself Soleá, and I also have to say that I have been judged excessively with a magnifying glass. The beginning has not been easy at all. We live in a very competitive, very tough society, and sometimes they ignore you, and even more so as a woman. But I’m still here and I’m going to the Apolo to sing.
His program on radio 3 is fun, unclassifiable…
The program, I took a risk, I said yes and I said to myself, my goodness… and how is this done. I am learning. Today Little Bombo Hell Boy was at home, I’m up to date with the national and international news and I’m learning a lot. Silvia Pérez Cruz wine…
We interviewed her here in a few days.
When she came it was one of the most beautiful interviews, because she is very charismatic, so talented and very humble. The radio gives me a lot and helps me relax. Sometimes you travel to cante jondo, and then you go to planet Bowie, to planet Eno, breaking prejudices. You have to be yourself and not be afraid…