Rigoberta Bandini - In Spain We Call It Soledad

Imagine we get the urge to recruit a continental woman, one who defiantly rejects the conventions that singers really really sing and that names should be glam, and who seeks out the machines which have dramatic retro disc- rock coursing through their throbbing cables. Candidate A is bound to be Marie Davidson, for a start she’s French but her name makes her sound like she’s from Gourock. Plus, her latest effort, Renegade Breakdown is some kind of pulsing masterpiece, eager to explore the loser’s point of view. Finally, the Soulwax remix of her track Work has made her a household name, in all the right households.

Those same households now have Candidate B knocking at the door (this metaphor’s HR guys insist we conduct selection processes from home). It’s Rigoberta Bandini. She’s from Spain although her name makes her sound like she fell from the pages of a summer sports supplement, one from a genuine full summer, where she was straddling the World Cup and the Tour De France. And now she’s running Spanish radio with In Spain We Call It Soleded. Actually, I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t said that thing about not singing, because that’s what she does, but let’s not dwell on that, what is this Soledad business? Solitude, or loneliness. From the lyrics we’ll guess it’s the lovesick kind, not a lockdown thing. For example, a plane to New York gets a mention, which will take you back to the days when holidays existed and perhaps excite an attack of that amargura, or bitterness, which crops up in the lyrics too.

Bandini says she likes the sensation that our vulnerabilities can be united through music, that we talk about our weaknesses, our successes, and our little face offs with our gigantic universe. I love this song for doing that, and with attitude to spare. As if adding linguistic frustration doesn’t double the pain, it lessens it. If New Yorkers don’t understand how you’re feeling, embrace that gap, let out a desperate Llama a alguien or a mystified ¿Qué coño hago? Face the universal disconnect, and accept that talking abroad has it’s benefits and appeal, and swearing abroad is always an extra thrill.

THIS WEEK

Rigoberta Bandini – In Spain We Call It Soledad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYA81QfWSsw

30,817 views since 15th August Weekly Average Views – 5,531

LAST WEEK

Monte – Mirla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzOVL9QWRDA&t=52s

Weekly Average Views – 490 Blog Week Views – 584 (Boom!)

EXTRAS

Marie Davidson – Renegade Breakdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-U-J5QVI3s

Marie Davidson – Work (Soulwax Remix)