The Spotify Singles have given us moments like Ethel Cain covering ‘Everytime’, Slayyyter covering ‘Monster’, Georgia covering ‘everything i wanted’, Lido Pimienta covering ‘Declare Independence’… and now we can add Zahara to the list. And doubly so. Because the artist from Ube, whose sixth studio album is scheduled for the beginning of the year, has said goodbye to 2024 with a cover of ‘Amorfoda’ by Bad Bunny that is quite interesting, and another even better one, ‘ZAHARA’ by Judeline.
The gag has its own but it is not enough to sustain a cover, and Zahara knows it, so she transforms the original song, taking reggaeton off the table and opting for minimalism to enhance the intensity of Lara Fernández’s beautiful lyrics. Produced by Zahara herself along with Marta Movidas, ‘ZAHARA’ gives all the spotlight to Idem’s voice (we are going to repeat this name 35 times) while she recites the story of this particular Penelope from Cádiz and her little boy.
As it progresses, the electronics gain weight: during the first part it sometimes reminds us of ‘Waves Crashing on Distant Shores of Time’ (that beauty for the OST of ‘San Junipero’), but towards the end it is unleashed the Zahara that we have been listening to in recent years.
With this version that even surpasses the original, the artist continues to establish herself in passages close to techno, trance, drum & bass, etc., a step that was already confirmed in her last two singles, ‘I only wanted to write a love song’ and ‘Your michis’. Here, the repetition of the “mmm-hmm” as we approach a climax that does not break leaves us wanting an extended live version, which would have fit perfectly into that “Puta Rave”. Will the presentation concerts for ‘Lento Ternura’ also be held here?
