She is MARINAH. Her name was Marina Abad. She was called Ojos de Brujo. From a neighbourhood in a Mediterranean city, she threw into the wind her enchanting vision of the world. It was the Gótico in Barcelona, one of so many Towers of Babel that grew beside an ancient sea. She sang new styles, those from a culture that continues to grow strongly from those who come from afar, culture that is continuously being mixed.
And combine is what Marinah’s first solo album proposes to do. On the polished ‘Aquí Estoy’, she declares her femininity; with ‘Despierto’ she looks south; on ‘Te Gustó’ she is carried away on a Latin beat whilst accompanied by the Orishas Ruzzo and Roldán; on ‘Iré’ one feels the tenderness; ‘El Carrusel’ she finds digital tango airs (which is not in vain as it was produced by Philippe Cohen Solel from the Gotan Project) and she declares her desire for happiness on ‘Quiero Ser Feliz’.
Marinah composed all the tracks on ‘El Baile de las Horas’. Carlos Sarduy, who has regularly collaborated with Javier Limón, Concha Buika, Ainhoa Arteta, Ojos de Brujo, produced and arranged. His trumpet playing can be heard on films such as ‘Chico y Rita’ by Fernando Trueba or ‘La piel que habito’ by Pedro Almodovar. The album also includes talented musicians such as Armand Sabal-Lecco, Kim Fanlo, Dani de Morón or Ruzzo and Roldán from the Orishas (the first time the two of them were in a studio together).
Philippe Cohen Solel (Gotan Project) joined the project to produce the track ‘El Carrusel’ and on ‘Te Gustó’ Dru Castro also co-produces, he has won a number of Grammys as well various other nominations.
The album was mastered in Sao Paulo by Carlos Freitas.
As Marinah explains, “This record is the first stop on a journey that has just started and that without a doubt will take us to different and unfamiliar ports.
These songs that appear on the record have been with me for a while, they sounded fresh and different in my head. I felt as if they were part of me, as a woman, a mother and a musician.
I had to make this record to be loyal to the present…. So I could evolve, continue being sincere and continue learning about myself.
Whilst writing the songs, I was listening to the voices of children, to strings, to electric guitars, flamenco guitars…. and to the waves of the sea. I didn’t know why. It was a global sound and I started to call it World Pop.
It was like preparing for an adventurous expedition in search of new sounds, new paradigms, and new imagery.
I felt that it was totally necessary to get the songs out into the open, to hear them being played by musicians and to hear the results, the feeling, the sonority. I myself have been enjoying getting to know them whilst recording this album.
Listening to them I’ve noticed a softness in my voice that I like, one that accompanies this point in my life. It is positive music with lyrics written from a feminine viewpoint. It is like self-help, a celebration, local heroes and heroines with mythological echoes. Music as a balm against sadness and weariness, it is enthusiastic.
Like an alchemist, the three elements have been combined: Air and the possibility to fly, Water where like allies and confidents we navigate by the stars, chasing the destiny that our heart dictates, and Fire.