d.baron

ESCAPE FROM THE WAILING WALL

And they talk to you and complain and get angry. The drama as they see it: broad-based 80s-style Spanish pop no longer exists. The market has fallen into a bottomless pit of televised subproducts and it’s time to grind our teeth and throw up our hands in horror.

No, friends. You can’t see the forest for the trees. There is one group that composes its own music, that won’t take shortcuts, that has caught the attention of the major young audiences, that doubles its album sales with each release, and that has even established itself on the other side of the Atlantic.

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A GROUP FROM SAN SEBASTIAN

Let’s talk about La Oreja de Van Gogh. At first glance it was a project like so many others from that area: a catchy name that doesn’t say much, university students from middle-class families, get-togethers with friends to play their favorite songs until --no one knows quite how it happened—they began to develop their own repertoire, songs that speak of that secret land of adolescence, youth, and of the first time your heart skips a beat. Then, suddenly Amaia appeared with that voice that works miracles: it makes the songs burn, it fans the fire, it transforms entertainment into a vocation.

It’s been said before and it’s worth repeating: in terms of credibility and attitude and musical culture La Oreja isn’t any different from so many other groups –and not only those from San Sebastian— who cultivate “insightful” pop, songs with an emotional punch and catchy refrains. But what distinguished their career was the moment that they decided to sign a contract: La Oreja signed with a big company, as the other groups of their promotion surely must have wanted to do. Instead of debuting with a poorly-produced product, their first record benefited from a process of slow development and the inspiration of Alejo Stivel. Alejo experienced the vertigo of success as head of Tequila: he doesn’t believe in producing records for select minorities. Alejo believes that if you can have an impact on a greater number of people, why hold back?

HITTING THE MARK

The intuition of Alejo –and of the person who signed La Oreja with Sony- was even exceeded in reality: “Díle al sol” transformed LODVG into Spain’s number one group. Even more extraordinary was the fact that they, the protagonists of this fairy tale, were able to survive the experience. It’s difficult to go from being a group that made demos, occasionally playing in a friend’s pub and entering talent contests. To leave that pretty purgatory to play in the First Division often results in a loss of innocence, the disintegration of internal bonds, and in falling into self-sufficiency and the expensive vices of ostentatious consumption.

But that didn’t happen with LODVG. “They haven’t changed at all? Not at all?” some cynics may ask. And the response is: “It’s impossible to know, they are a tight-knit group, they’re discrete and it’s not easy to break into their circle. But in what matters is that in their world vision, in their healthy normalcy, in their dedication to what they know how to do best....there is no contamination, they haven’t lost that purity of the soul.” You can see it in the way they treat others, in their preference for anonymity that avoids setting up hierarchies in their contributions. It’s also evident in the enthusiasm with which they talk of records, concerts, films, books. And in their reserve, and in the northern humor with which they approach that great circus of the entertainment industry.

SUSTAINED GROWTH

This is comforting. And it explains how La Oreja was able to climb the next flight of stairs without sustaining any visible injuries. “El viaje de Coppercot” was the key to finally entering the markets of other countries (please check the attached figures). They even overcame detestable, absurd insinuations that circulated in the neighborhood gossip-mill of Internet. It’s a matter of being sensible, having that innermost sense of calm, and that collective chemistry. You talk with them and there’s nothing that would indicate that this is the Spanish group with the greatest impact since Mecano.

And then the third record arrived, the much feared Difficult Third Record, with a suggestive title: “Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida” (What I Told You While You Pretended You Were Sleeping) Hasn’t anyone told them that modern marketing techniques require categorical titles of a maximum of two or three words? “Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida” doesn’t seem to have been a painful birth. To the contrary, what it reflects is an ambitious group, which is sure of its intrinsic strength and which is willing to try a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

If someone would make the effort to study the structure of La Oreja’s repertoire, he would be pleasantly surprised to find that these songs haven’t been drawn with a ruler. There’re things done on impulse and maybe a little experimentation in the construction of their songs, as well as in the instrumental arrangements. With the help of their present producer Nigel Walker, “Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida” has become a rainbow of arrangements, forms and transformations. Contrary to what’s typical of successful groups, La Oreja shows no trace here of being afraid of change or of backing away from the prospect of surprising their audiences.

Such technical audacity certainly doesn’t count for much if, as you know and as is usually is the case, the raw material has lost the reason for its existence. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. Moreover, there are many different songs in “Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida”, songs for private moments and songs with refrains that can be sung at the top of your voice, songs that reflect loneliness and songs that reflect different experiences. “Un mundo mejor” (“A Better World”) was prompted by their visit to Cuba). Scenes from their generation and confessions that speak to people of other ages. Artistic ambition and expressive simplicity.

A ONE-TIME FORMULA

Once liberated from any prejudices, anyone who approaches La Oreja, either in person or through their records, will soon understand the secret of their success. They don’t underestimate their fans, they don’t look their noses down on them. Audiences can feel their closeness, and depend on La Oreja to enrich their lives, to disentangle the dilemmas of love. Their songs aren’t the disposable kind: they tend to become embedded in our memories, slowly revealing their charms.

There is skill in LODVG’s pop. And a person who is capable of breaking down distances. Amaia Montero has an instinct for dramatizing their songs, the guts to get them across, and an incredible on-stage charisma. Amaia is really likeable, but she doesn’t let her talents go to her head. She’s the hot tip of the lance of a project that was born modest and that continues healthy. And it will do so for many years to come.