Juan Wauters - Introducing Juan Pablo - VINYL LP

Over the last few years, Latin American artist Juan Wauters has covered a lot of ground, both artistically and geographically. In 2016, Wauters directed a film in the Southwest of France and, in 2017, he performed for the first time in his birthplace of Uruguay. He's also been traveling Latin America extensively, taking time to pause and rethink his life, his art and his career after releasing two critically acclaimed albums, 2014's N.A.P. North American Poetry and 2015's Who Me?. As both time and place often have a unique influence on music, Wauters planned to record his next album abroad, seeking a break from his life in New York City, the city he has called home since moving from Montevideo in 2002. He settled in Mexico City in 2017 to focus on writing. However, shortly after, he was offered a role in an independent film being shot in Argentina. Never one to turn down a creative opportunity, Wauters packed up his 100 pound mobile recording studio into two suitcases and took off to Buenos Aires. When filming was complete, Wauters wound up writing and recording all over Latin America - from Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and Chile to Mexico and Puerto Rico - seeking collaboration at every stop with local musicians who embody the traditions and energies specific to each region. Until this point in his career, most of his songs had been sung in English, but revisiting his Latin roots inspired him to record songs in his native tongue. Thus, Wauters gives us the first of multiple albums he will this year the wonderful La Onda de Juan Pablo, the world of Juan Pablo Wauters

There's freedom to be found in consistency. Until recently, Juan Wauters may not have agreed with this statement. As a touring musician and multinational citizen, transience had always come naturally to him. Circumstance, however, recently prompted him to reconsider the benefits of staying in one place. His most introspective work to date, Wauters' sixth solo album Wandering Rebel finds the artist taking stock of how he's changed, how the world sees him, and what he wants out of life.Written mostly during an extended break from touring, the songs on Wandering Rebel are candid reflections on subjects like career (InchWandering RebelInch), romantic commitment (InchAmor AmorInch), mental health (InchNube NegraInch) and the personal toll of touring (InchLet LooseInch). On InchModus Operandi,Inch he voices his frustration with New York's fairweather residents, who fled the city at theonset of the COVID-19 lockdown. Vocal contributions from fellow New Yorker Greta Kline (Frankie Cosmos) add to the chorus of playful disapproval. On the singalong-worthy InchMillionaire,Inch he turns his eye to the west coast InchIt's hard to get around Los Angeles / If you don't have a car / I'm staying in a privileged part of town / It's suspicious for me to be walking.InchThe clarity with which Wauters approaches these subjects lyrically is reflected in the music as well. His trademark eclecticism is still present (fans of Real Life Situations' spirited hip-hop should look to track 6, InchBoleroInch), but it's more refined this time, anchored in his signature Latin-influenced indie folk. Wandering Rebel is peppered with delicate additions that add depth throughout rain sounds and hand drums on InchNube Negra,Inch a strings section on InchModus Operandi,Inch a gentle vibraphone on InchAmor, Amor.Inch Some of these are classic Wauters touches, but others are owed to outside influences, like

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape-at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire's new album Every Acre grapples with those themes-themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming-claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage-permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs.