By 2021, Juanes had established himself as a significant pressure in Latin music, breaking boundaries and genres with ease and changing into a worldwide pressure. With nothing to show, he determined that his ninth studio album would comprise cowl variations; for Juanes, it gave him an opportunity to dig deep into his previous and discover out who he was.
Earlier than the discharge of Origen, Juanes didn’t appear to be the nostalgic sort. His earlier album was even referred to as Más Futuro Que Pasado (“More Future Than Past”), during which he collaborated with younger artists from reggaeton, pop, hip-hop, and even Mexican regional. Nonetheless, Juan Esteban Artizábal Vásquez was put into an introspective temper by the COVID-19 lockdown. He first made his mark in his native Colombia with thrash steel band Ekhymosis, which progressively integrated extra melody into their music till they embraced softer sounds and a hookier strategy. Going solo in 2000, Juanes rapidly discovered a pop-rock sound that mixed his love for electrical guitars with massive hooks, cruising on the perimeters of the Latin growth to turn out to be one of many decade’s largest artists. His star was effectively established within the 2010s, netting greater than 20 Latin Grammy Awards and a number of Grammy Awards.
Origen aimed to get a larger image of Juanes’s musical journey. Produced by the artist together with Sebastián Krys, Juanes had a transparent assertion in thoughts. “It was like going back to my childhood, to remember how those songs moved me so much back then, what led me to make crazy decisions like dedicating my life to music,” he mentioned on the time.
Store for Juanes’s Origen on vinyl or CD now.
Juanes grew up within the ’80s in Medellín, a time of violence in Colombia, when Pablo Escobar and the drug cartels made life within the nation a residing hell. Juanes remembers listening to the bar across the block from the household home, the place they performed every thing from steel to vallenato, tango to salsa. It turned a balm for younger Juan Esteban throughout tough instances.
For his variations, the artist needed to stretch his sounds as effectively. “I wanted to rebuild these songs and put them back together my way,” Juanes mentioned. “It helped me remember who I am […] to ground myself and keep going [in the right direction].” Certainly, his versatility doesn’t simply present up within the music choice but additionally by the preparations, underlined by a classic analog sound by recording in an old-school studio.
Origen wastes no time to exhibit its eclecticism by opening with “Rebelión” by Joe Arroyo, a salsa music that turns into rock with a little bit of chicha thrown in there, because of the fuzzy guitar and organ taking part in twin riffs; however, “Volver” by the most important tango star of all time, Carlos Gardel, finds a bridge between that style, reggae, and bachata, discovering frequent floor between the three; in distinction, Julio Jaramillo’s “Nuestro Juramento” straightens the groove right into a danceable four-on-the-floor beat, with wailing guitar traces offering texture to the music.
Juanes reveals his love for ska and rocksteady on his tackle “La Bilirrubina,” one of many largest hits by merengue celebrity Juan Luis Guerra — with members of The Roots offering horns — whereas “Todo Hombre Es Una Historia,” by Colombian steel pioneers Kraken, will get an association dominated by organ and percussion, contrasting the unique. “El Amor Después Del Amor,” initially by Argentine rock icon Fito Páez, is maybe the one monitor near the unique’s association, whereas nonetheless containing many distinctive parts. In the meantime, the one music in English, Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved,” encompasses a boom-bap snap beat and tasteful guitar licks; reggae riddims reappear on “Sin Medir Distancias” by vallenato stalwart Diomedes Díaz.
Guitar riffs give Juan Gabriel’s “No Tengo Dinero” one other dimension, bringing a little bit of edge to the upbeat unique, whereas Juanes masterfully subdues Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancer In The Dark” right into a sluggish, ponderous nation monitor. The album closes with a waltz-timed mariachi tackle Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina’s “Y Nos Dieron Las Diez,” bringing residence a trip round a world of sounds and grooves.
Together with the album, there was an accompanying documentary directed by Kacho López, which follows Juanes as he rediscovered his favourite music. The album reveals the artist going again to his childhood to search out his reminiscences and his essence. There are additionally staged scenes that give the movie some taste, like a reenactment of The Beatles taking part in The Ed Sullivan Present for “No Tengo Dinero.” It additionally reveals him taking part in the tracks to 3 of the songwriters and performers — Guerra, Páez, and Sabina — in addition to to Ziggy Marley, Bob’s son. “Those three minutes felt like an eternity and waiting for their reaction was terrifying,” he says of the expertise. “But, in the end, I’m grateful for life and music, because I was able to pay tribute to them and it made me happy that they all liked my versions.”
Origen was a convincing success, incomes Juanes each a Grammy and a Latin Grammy — for Finest Latin Rock or Different Album and Finest Pop/Rock Album, respectively. It additionally resonated with critics. “Juanes brings us a masterpiece, an honest and exquisite […] analog album [where] his vulnerability and determination translate into brilliant genius,” mentioned Diego Ortiz for Rolling Stone. “This music is totally Juanes and everything sounds alive,” Billboard’s Leila Cobo wrote on the time, whereas Javier Calle within the Los Angeles Occasions mentioned, “He makes deeply personal versions without sacrificing their essence.”
Origen additionally gave Juanes a brand new route to comply with. His follow-up, 2023’s Vida Cotidiana — written throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns — marked a return to stripped-down rock music, teaming up once more with Krys and recording in an analog studio, much like the covers experiment.
Though one can say that Origen is only a covers album, that is maybe Juanes’s most definitive assertion, because of his capability to assimilate sounds and provides us distinctive interpretations whereas sounding fully relatable. Juanes is a grasp of balancing private expression and mass enchantment.
Store for Juanes’s Origen on vinyl or CD now.
