Meritxell Neddermann has returned from her tour with Jorge Drexler loaded with vocoders and synthesizers that take control in Suelta, second album by the Barcelona pianist, where she gives free rein to her creativity in ten songs that travel from the dreamlike to the party through situations everyday. “For a woman, the word loose always has a negative connotation,” explains the artist of a title alluding to music “that has expanded.”
“I have started to play with synthesizers, with more electronic bits, and I continue with the other more pop part, with keyboards and traditional lyrics, but exploiting the experimental side much more than on the other album,” comments Neddermann, who began to work with synthetic sound after being given a Prophet for his birthday, although before that “he was already using vocoders”, an instrument that he has used live for years. “It’s very expressive, the volume is what I set when singing or speaking, I can use lyrics and combine them at the same time with my keyboard skills.”
Sister of the singer and composer Judit Neddermann, Meritxell’s piano skills are noticeable in songs like Amiga where a long solo made with synthesizers is heard. “As the topic is a bit dense, I wanted to add a moment of rest. The key changes from minor to major, the rhythm goes away,” she comments, highlighting that she wanted to make a song without the traditional structure, for which “instead of using piano interludes, she used different resources.”
The piano, Neddermann’s musical reference tool, continues to be the backbone of his compositions even if it does not appear in musical production. “I perform live with a keyboard, it serves as my backbone.” Which does not mean that in this new album he has composed some songs directly from the computer, “it is a very affordable tool,” he says, “but I always think about instruments, although I add things that would not have come out with the piano alone.”
Among the resources he uses in Suelta is also gospel, a genre he discovered during his time in the United States, “it is one of the first things that inspired me, the intensity with which they play. There is no limit, you think it’s over and then they do 16 more bars, this inspired me a lot and I think it is especially reflected in the live performance.”
Produced by Carles Campi, a regular collaborator of Jorge Drexler, the album travels through the limits of a “dirtier” sound, which he combines with his voice, an instrument that he continues to explore. “The path of the voice is one of the longest and deepest that can be taken, it never ends.” Another path was the one she undertook as a keyboardist on Drexler’s Tinta y Tiempo tour, an experience that led her to perform in several countries.
From this tour with the Uruguayan singer-songwriter he has brought, among other learnings, Spanish. “Using it on tour and with the team makes it more active,” explains the artist, who also currently resides in Madrid. “We think differently in different languages, unexpected things arise. Just as I play with instruments, playing with another language gives me something different, creative.”
The result of this work in Suelta are happy songs with seventies sounds like Las Vegas or Restaurante de mar, the result of his desire to do “something inspired by Supertramp.” Next to her, songs like Amiga, where she talks about toxic relationships based on the experiences of friends who have gone through this situation. “It has been very good for me because they are things that you cannot say directly, because depending on how or who the other person is with, they are not able to see them.”
Or Déjame, in which he talks about alcohol excesses. “I made the music before, it’s experimental with synths, vocoders and flutes,” Nedderman recalls of the song’s origin. “I wanted the theme to be a little psychedelic, and I thought about the feeling that someone is very drunk and you are not, which is very uncomfortable and curious.” Stories that emerge with the music already composed, letting yourself be carried away by the sounds to find your own path in this album as loose as his own name.