Marcela Arroyo - De Par En Par (2021)

Acoustic instruments - guitar, piano, drums, trumpet - surround the voice of the native Argentine Marcela Arroyo on her new album "De Par En Par", which means something like "wide open".

Arroyo settled in Switzerland twenty years ago and has since released numerous CDs under his own name and with the Trio Puerta Sur. The ten songs on “De Par En Par” come largely from her own pen and encompass a variety of soulful moods. So that the non-Spanish-speaking listener also understands what the songs are about, the lyrics in the booklet are also printed in English.

“For me, music is the ultimate medium,” emphasizes the singer. “It's the best way of communication I have and a universal language. And as a storyteller, I feel that there is nothing more authentic than telling my own stories. The stories that I have experienced or that have been told to me and that have endured over time. "

The sounds of nature - for example in "Coplas al agua" - are easily integrated into the songs and the small band accompanying Arroyo always finds the right musical expression.

"These songs were born out of the freedom in terms of form, without forgetting my roots," says Arroyo. “When I emigrated to Switzerland twenty years ago, I was so homesick that no new ideas could sprout. I kept singing what I had already done at home. But over time, I also began to soak up everything that was around me, and from this influence new ideas emerged that embody these songs. Without forgetting my two most important roots, namely Tango Nuevo and folklore. "

From these two roots, songs emerged that cannot be clearly assigned to any genre and cannot be adequately described even with the helpless term world music. Her band, which includes two percussionists, the pianist César Correa, the guitarist Pablo Allende, the bassist Federico Abraham and the trumpeter Matthieu Michel, makes a significant contribution with their jazz sensitivity. She creates an organic flow that always supports and carries Arroyo's warm, light and sometimes slightly smoky voice.

"The heart of the album is 'Abrazo' (hug)," says the singer. “A song that was written for someone who was very close to me emotionally, but who was many miles away. This person had an extraordinary moment, but I couldn't be there to accompany them. And then I had the idea of ​​writing a song, as a musical hug, so to speak, so that I could be there. "

“Abrazo” is by far not the only song that goes a long way. The compactness of “Candombe mio”, driven by a jazzy piano, conveys a happy mood with all its transparency, while the “Cantore de Yala”, accompanied only by Allende's acoustic guitar, marks a soulful end to the album, in which Arroyo's voice literally floats appears.

“I feel that this hug of my voice is a gift for the others,” says the singer. “So that I can accompany people on their way who will listen to me. And for me this is the greatest gift I can give and receive. "

What Martin Schuster once wrote about another album by Arroyo in the magazine “Concerto”, “De Par En Par” again characterizes quite aptly: “This CD is laid out like a tightrope act, but the dancer always stays safely on the rope.”