‘Bodhiria’ is being one of the national albums of the year. In fact, he is one of the 12 nominees for the Noise Award. After a few weeks of absolutely crazy releases, this week we choose it as Album of the Week and we have the opportunity to chat with Judeline about it.
The artist shows excellent humor, she is much funnier than she appears from her music, and she appears confident in the album. She knew she had a big sleeper on her hands. She will have the opportunity to show it on a dizzying tour that will take her to stages in Madrid (Inverfest), Barcelona, Zaragoza, Santiago and practically the entire peninsula, as well as festivals such as Primavera Sound or Bilbao BBK Live. Details on their website.
Your album has reached the top 3 in its 3rd week, something very unusual. Normally you go in high and then go down. But this looks like a “sleeper.” Are you aware of all this?
Yes, I felt that the dynamic was going to be like that. I feel like it’s a very good album, I like it a lot, and I’m not well-known enough to go straight into it. I knew it would work over time. I like that it stays a little longer.
They say that now records last 2 days in fashion, and that’s not happening with yours.
We artists are partly responsible for that. If you release an album where you put all your effort, you upload a Stories and you don’t do anything again… I’ll be in trouble for months because I’m very proud of it (laughs).
It caught my attention, and I talked about it with people from Universal, that you didn’t do a promo the first week.
I didn’t want to get tired of doing interviews the first week. Those days there was already a commotion, so we have separated things in time.
You say you’re not that well-known, but there was a certain hype, right?
Compared to other artists… compared to Quevedo or Bad Gyal… I feel like I’m starting to be known. I’m not the most mainstream in the country. It is still being discovered to me.
Does going to ‘La Revuelta’ serve any purpose?
He put ‘Silver Tendrils’ on the list for me! In addition, there was a large audience that day. It didn’t even cross my mind that it would be so big. I look strange, you can tell I’m nervous. I look forward to doing a normal interview again.
What have these last two years been like for you?
I have it a little blurry, if I’m honest. There have been many stimuli that I am not used to. I have visited the entire literal world, when I had not gone to Barcelona or Bilbao. I have seen many cities for the first time. It has given me many beautiful experiences that I would not have had without my work. Grow. I have met a lot of people. Every day I feel more adult. I’m starting to be.
That’s good?
I feel very empowered. The older I am, the happier I am. I feel that inexperience frustrated me a lot: experiencing everything for the first time, especially feelings. In the first few times, everything is very intense and that is something that had me crazy. Now I put actions and conflicts into perspective a little…
Give me a specific example of something that has overwhelmed you.
Have a lot of innocence in many points. Going from coming from a town, where everything is “there is no way out of here”, to where anything can come out at any time. Now I have more experience at work, and in the part that is not just music. Since I was little I always wanted to be the oldest, since I was a dwarf. And in adolescence, much more. Now that I’m 21, I’m allowing myself to be a little girl many times, connecting with my childish part. But that seems part of being an adult to me.
«The older I am, the happier I am. “Inexperience frustrated me a lot.”
And all this maturity has a lot to do with making a concept album, right? About the story of an alter ego, Ángela, leaving out songs like ‘Zahara’ or ‘2+1’.
More than anything because an album is a complete work, it is not a set of singles, although it depends on how each person sees it. It made a lot of sense that there was an ensemble, that it told a story. When it comes to creating it is much better. I haven’t done it any other way either, but I imagine that otherwise, you go without direction.
What historical albums with a concept have inspired you? At one point it seemed like this had gone out of fashion.
All Beatles albums have a specific sound, they are part of the same atmosphere. Laylow, a French ragpicker, has a project called ‘TrinityVille’, set in a strange futuristic city and he takes you there. ‘The origin of the legend’ by Lole and Manuel tells you a story, with similar elements.
«My father forbade me to listen to Melendi, but now I love it»
How have you been nourished by music? Have you listened to much R&B? Electronics? Have there been stages?
Like all children, I have heard a lot from my parents. A lot of Beatles. My father controlled what came into my ears. It was very important to him. My mother listened to The Police. We listened to a lot of Venezuelan music, flamenco too. When I became more aware of myself, I became obsessed with flamenco. My mother and I once went to a tablao in Jerez, and she always tells me that when I saw a dancer, I couldn’t stay away. The coplera image caught my attention. My grandmother was a fan of Lola Flores, of Rocío Jurado… Then as a teenager she was more emo, punk, trap like sad, R&B… On MTV I discovered ‘My Boo’ by Alicia Keys and Usher and I became obsessed.
You said your father controlled what you heard. What didn’t he let you hear?
(laughs) Spanish groups that I have now gotten the hang of: Fito y Fitipaldis, Estopa… Melendi was extremely forbidden, but now I love it (laughs).
From your father comes the Venezuelan incursion of the album, ‘JOROPO’, a happier or fuller-bodied song, right towards the middle of the album. Why have you placed it exactly there?
For me it represents the rage after the ‘red moon’. It has more strength, it breaks a little in the middle and there is an intense feeling. It was important to me.
Now there is a lot of talk about recovering folklore, but not much is said about the folklore of Venezuela…
No, and it has an incredible cultural wealth. It is the music that I have grown up with and have grown up with.
You have cited Lola Flores and Rocío Jurado, but your music is more introspective, more inward. Your interpretation is less vehement…
I’m not like that. But my little strength comes from there… It’s true that I’m more introspective. If I bring that out in a show, it’s because I imitated it when I was little. Vocally we have nothing to do with each other. I am more meticulous…
Can it come from R&B, which are sometimes whispered voices?
Yes, and bossa nova. I have been greatly influenced by Gal Costa, who is another meticulous singer: I imitated her all the time when I was little. And when Billie Eilish and all the whisper singers arrived… That caught me in my adolescence.
Tell me about the production of the album, especially you have worked with two artists, Tuiste and Mayo. Because?
I made the demos with them, although other producers have helped us a lot. But they already had the sound on the album, and the album is theirs too…
Well, I think it’s yours…
From them, too, they have understood my universe. When you don’t have to explain your language all the time, it is much easier to work.
This story of Angela’s alter ego gives me the feeling that it talks about a separation due to fame. It’s not clear, but I think that’s the bottom line. Is that so?
Listening to the album over time I have seen a metaphor of abandoning something out of ambition or a hunch, and regretting it later. I didn’t have that intention, but it ended that way. Sometimes I make songs and then I see another meaning in them. As if it had been a prediction of the future.
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Quite positioned, savvy. Big woman. In my best moment. I imagine myself to be very pretty, very womanly and very old (NdE: it makes me laugh)
I don’t have to say this, but you’re already pretty!
At 26 years old, I imagine myself like this… As I get older, I will become more beautiful (laughs) Because I was not pretty as a teenager. When you are an ugly teenager, you are a handsome adult. And when you’ve been handsome all your life, well…
A couple of footballers come to mind, yes…
The handsome guy in the class, you go on his Instagram… and it’s to see him.
Now that we’re laughing, ‘Witchcraft’ also has a funny point, doesn’t it?
Yes, but I didn’t do it as a joke. I wanted to experiment with my voice. Following the melody, people laughed, then I realized that there is a comical touch. It’s part of me, and it’s something that didn’t come out in the songs. I act serious in the songs, and then I’m joking all day.
I mean, it was one more thing of terror…
For me it was more like the energy of a goddess, woman power, foreboding. “I’m crazy.” Little character. Like an elf, more than just humorous.
Tell me about the most organic part of the album: pianos, flutes, musicians… Is it all digital?
“Los Pablos” include many instruments that seem real, their productions are prodigious, like the flute in ‘Brujería’. That’s typing, all with the computer. For example, Ralphie Choo and Drummie did bring instruments for ‘4 angelitos’… In ‘JOROPO’ there is flamenco guitar, my father has played several things… But they are mostly synthesized things.
Do you know when Rusowsky’s album is coming out? Has he put something on you?
I have no idea, hopefully soon.
What do you look for most in music: melody, song…? I was surprised by how electronic the album is, like FKA twigs…
I enjoy composition the most, it is where I am most with myself and I can have a moment of intimacy. It’s my favorite part. But in the end it is important how it sounds: the voice, the mix… it is the key to making something sound the way it sounds. This album with the same melodies and the same lyrics, with another production, would have been so different…
‘mangata’ is my favorite in terms of production. Why do you think that is?
It takes me to a night of partying on the beach, like electronic music, like spiritual. It’s a night that the producers and I get together, I like it a lot, it seems very mystical to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K73UE9o-rs
Outside of this album, ‘2+1’ talked about polyamory, something not so common in songs, although increasingly…
There are more and more because love is changing.
What reaction did you have with her?
It’s a complicated conversation…
I have a podcast where I sometimes mention that I am an open couple, to add a grain of sand and normalize it.
But is your partner a boy? (NdE: seat) You gays are so advanced with this…
Yes, but we improvise things as we go, don’t think we have references.
But it’s in the conversation, my friends tell me things about their partners and they are much more advanced. I feel that in heterosexual relationships it is still taboo. In my case, the song is more like a sexual fantasy. Nowadays it would cost me a lot. If everything is already mega crazy, unstable and random, if I had an open relationship… (laughs) Right now I prefer something closed and calm. But the fantasy has always been there. And when it happens, well I will say “I can now listen to my song”… (laughs)
Have you had very crazy reactions to ‘2+1’?
It comes up in conversations, my friends tell me. I was not aware that it had entered the language, at least in my circle.
As for reactions to the album, I imagine that everyone will be asking you about Rosalía’s Stories sharing your album on the day it comes out. Any other reaction that surprised you?
Many people I admire… Mora makes me excited… With Rosalía’s Stories I jumped for joy. She is super cute, she behaves so well with me… Many friends that I admire. People from the town, friends of my brother, people who have heard the album and considered it important…
What is the next step? Will you release singles? Do you have the next album planned?
Now I’m in a blank page moment. There are worries, insecurities and desire, but I want to keep this album for a little while.
It’s working great without the support of the “Exitos España” playlist, from the radio formula… It seems very organic.
Yes, I feel so. I have a team behind doing their thing, but I feel like it’s being organic.
Also on TikTok?
Yes, Duki’s is going very cool.
