Júlia Colom, from Mallorca, is one of the new leading voices of pop sung in Catalan, as first demonstrated by the acceptance of her debut, ‘Miramar’ (2023), where half of the songs were traditional tunes; and now ‘Paradís’, a notable second album composed mainly of original songs, in which Colom experiments with sounds linked to the most current electronic pop.
Among those songs is ‘Necessit’, one of the Best Songs of 2025 for the JENESAISPOP editorial team. About to present ‘Paradís’ in Madrid, on January 17, within the framework of Inverfest, we spoke with Valldemossa about this new work, the need for references to position themselves, and also about the Benidorm Fest.
What are you looking to convey in ‘Paradís’? What would be your main ideas?
My first album, ‘Miramar’, was very theoretical, because it was my first album and I wanted it to be a letter of introduction that represented me. On the album he mixed original songs with traditional ones. I have approached the second album by putting fewer conceptual limitations on myself; I have written from intuition, the opposite of what I did in ‘Miramar’.
It was also very important to me that ‘Paradís’ had coherence, and I think I have achieved that. ‘Miramar’ was very eclectic and I ended up exhausted from having to explain if I, artistically, was one thing or another. In production I did limit myself a lot, although in concept not so much.
In the lyrics you talk about doors that open, about a search for yourself, about your identity. In songs like ‘Sa nit i es dia’ you seem to talk about an identity that is constantly changing.
In the album I talk about searching, about pursuing an ideal that never arrives, that’s why it’s called ‘Paradís’. This question goes through me a lot because I consider myself a person very connected to myself and I am at a point in life where I begin to wonder about life expectations, what has been fulfilled and what has not. It could be age, but I think it’s a generational thing. You reach an age where you begin to take stock of your life. Many of us see that the reality we expected has not really arrived.
In cultural theory there is a lot of talk about canceled futures, an idea by Mark Fisher that has been widely reproduced in recent times. I don’t know if you’re going there. From an optimistic perspective there is the idea of utopia; Björk titled an album like that.
I know that album. What seems dangerous to me is not recognizing a light at the end of the tunnel, not having hope. I think we should talk about paradises and less about canceled futures, because from pessimism we become depressed and begin to think that it is no longer necessary to vindicate ourselves in any sense. That lack of commitment really worries me and I do see that it is very generational. It is difficult to put pessimism and frustration on the table and at the same time talk about utopias, but I believe that life makes more sense when you commit. It can be outside of music, it doesn’t have to be within art.
«Life has more meaning when you commit. “It can be outside of music, it doesn’t have to be within art.”
There is talk of a need for public commitment; Many artists end up in the spotlight for not taking a public position on an issue. What is your opinion?
I don’t really know what to expect from musicians. What I do believe is that we need leaders who are committed; I think there aren’t any, and that’s not good for us as a society. Am I pointing them out? I don’t know, I’m not sure. But it would be very good if criticism and public engagement were normal and common. It disappoints me because I think there are things that should not be given so much thought.
Some artists operate from a capitalist logic that perhaps does not allow such commitment on a public scale. Does the market prevent that commitment?
I have my own space and my own small audience, but sometimes I feel like I’m being annoying when I pick up the microphone and complain about something. Suddenly I think that maybe I should sing, say thank you and that’s it, but I can’t.
What weight has your training in jazz and traditional songs had on the songs you compose?
Roots music is part of my family context. When I was six years old it was my grandfather who opened the doors of traditional song to me, when he taught me the ‘Cant de la Sibil·la’. I have a traditional family in the cool sense of the word, not in the conservative sense, but in the sense of knowing the traditions. All the tunes that I have sung I have not had to learn because I have always known them.
You listened to Antònia Font a lot when you were little. What is your favorite album?
‘Alegria’ or ‘Katiuscas Bathyscaphe’. For the majority of Mallorcans, Antònia Font is the soundtrack of our youth.
In interviews you comment that you have tried to make an apolitical album, in the sense that political discourse does not filter into the songs.
In the same way that I believe it is important to commit, I believe that the lyrics do not need to have political content for that commitment to exist. I am part of a youth association with my friends and this topic does not touch my musical world, but it is still very present in my life. Then there are lyrics today that don’t even make lyrical sense, on a political level. Between doing pedagogy and the lyrics not making any sense, there is a middle ground. Furthermore, with the most important artists we know all the details of their personal lives. It’s not like before, when we knew the music and some specific data; Now we know everything, who has left or left whom, but it seems that within that life political commitment does not have as much space.
«There are lyrics today that have no lyrical meaning, on a political level. “Between doing pedagogy and letters not making sense, there is a middle ground.”
The album is a fusion of traditional songs with very current electronic sounds. There are things that remind us of Caroline Polachek or PinkPantheress.
It is a sought-after fusion. I love pop and I am very up to date with what is coming out, the albums that are coming out. I have my music library and inevitably there are things that influence me. The production is pop because I’m connected to that, but maybe my way of singing is more “rural” because I come from there.
Before you spoke of a search for aesthetic unity of the album. What elements make it cohesive, in your opinion?
The process of creating the album was exciting but frustrating because I put many limitations on myself to obtain that unity, but I am glad to have overcome them and to be left with what there is, that Spanish voice and guitar in the foreground, lute and little else. Everything electronic has been very intuitive. When we played drum and bass or something too electronic, we took it to something more organic. We would play until it felt organic enough to me, even if the sound was really electronic.
‘Transformacions’ has an almost medieval sound, but then Ouineta appears singing with his inseparable autotune; The effect is funny.
The medieval style is totally the inspiration, and the presence of the lute contributes to that atmosphere. Ouineta and I are friends. I knew she was brilliant, but I thought our musical paths were very difficult to unite. When I saw her perform in Plaza Catalunya I decided to write to her, because I loved her show.
The press release says that ‘Necessit’ has K-pop influence, although I don’t see it. Tell me about this song.
It’s inspired by bossa nova and samba, really. I wanted to write a song that would bring some humor and fun to my concerts. The challenge was to achieve an album that wasn’t all so dramatic and sad, which is not easy for me because when I start writing songs on the guitar I get more ballads than anything else. When I wrote ‘Necessit’ I had doubts about including it or leaving it out, because I thought it was moving away from the tone of the album, but I realized that it was the song I needed to bring fun and vitality to my concerts.
What is the chronology of the album’s composition?
We premiered ‘Miramar’ at Primavera Sound and already at that concert they asked us for 45 minutes. Playing ‘Miramar’ we were 28 or 30, the repertoire was not enough, so for the presentation I had to write new songs to fill the concert. That’s where the first song, ‘Gelosia’, was born, which has survived all the changes until reaching the album. Later I was writing songs and at the ‘Miramar’ concerts we would occasionally play them.
«That Tanxugueiras participated in Benidorm Fest singing in their language gives me security in the event that I appear»
What does it mean that ‘Sa Madonna’ is the only traditional song on the album?
I knew that if I was just going to put in one traditional song, it was going to be important. ‘Sa Madonna’ is very special because it is not a song that has circulated in my family. At 14 years old I was part of a folklore project; There I met Miguel Majoral, who is a philologist, activist, pagès and singer who knows all the traditional Mallorcan songs. He started singing the song on that project and I was completely captivated. He taught me the song and since then I have sung it at my concerts, but no one has ever told me that they had sung it in the past, neither their parents nor their grandparents. Miguel may be the last real transmitter of that song, and for me it is special to have taken the baton from him. And having Tarta Relena join in was the cherry on top.
Have you thought about attending Benidorm Fest? Now he no longer has a ticket to Eurovision, which eliminates the Israel factor. It is also a platform that supports regional languages.
No… (laughs). I really liked it when the Tanxugueiras were there. If they have gone, it gives me confidence to think that I could perform singing in Catalan. I have not projected myself there by singing in my language, but it is very good that artists from all over Spain participate and that they represent what the country is, because sometimes it seems that one is not even a part…
Don’t you see yourself representing Mallorca?
I have never entered a contest. I have respect for what may happen after the contest is over, whether it goes well or badly. Too many things depend on third parties, while now most things depend on my control.
