“¡Ay, qué manera de caer hacia arriba y de ser sempiterna, esta mujer!” (“Oh, the way this woman has of falling upwards and being eternal!”) These are the opening lines to Pablo Neruda’s poem “Una Elegia para Cantar” (An... Read Article
What can I say about Violeta Parra that has not been extensively documented in the books of Chilean scholars and in the songs of the artists she has influenced? Parra was affectionately known as La Viola by many.... Read Article
The artistic evolution of Cuñao continues on their upcoming album and video, premièring exclusively here on Sounds and Colours. “Saana, El Extranjero” is conceptual, both in its audio and visual form. The lyrics feature traditional African proverbs about... Read Article
If John Everett Millais’ Ophelia was left in the swamp to drown with her clothes on, Camila Moreno’s zombie-sirena will stand up from the water unscathed and uncensored, determined to haunt the world with her songs and evolving... Read Article
Recordar, to remember, is a bold statement. In a period, which has lost and is continuously losing its tutelary deities, with no replacements appearing on the horizon, to recall and reinterpret the meaningful voices of South American nueva... Read Article
Sometimes I feel as if Chico Trujillo were a band born to alleviate the current lack of troubadours in contemporary Latin American music. This is not to say that there aren’t (hip hop, cumbia and folk artists have... Read Article
Best known as the singer with Canadian ensemble Pacifika, Silvana Kane has given free rein to her Latin American roots on debut album La Jardinera, specifically channelling the nueva canción spirit of Mercedes Sosa and Violeta Parra. Born... Read Article
Folk music has never been my cup of tea. My parents spent their teenage years rebelling against the cultural isolation imposed by Onganía’s dictatorship (1966-1970) and, as a result, have always embraced and encouraged in their daughters a... Read Article
During the early 60’s, the Nueva Canción movement (‘New Song’) was born on Chilean soil. With singer-songwriters paving the way with their socio-politically-fuelled folk tunes, it was a revolutionary spirit that was deeply embedded in the Latin American... Read Article
When it comes to Latin American revolutionaries, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevera, without doubt, is the name that most people think of immediately. However, hailing from the same hometown was a little niña that not only sang her left-leaning songs... Read Article
