Juana Luna – Canciones en Blanco y Negro (Folkalist Records, 2024)
Juana Luna, a Buenos Aires native living in the USA, is an artist whose music reflects her global experiences. Her latest album, Canciones en Blanco y Negro (Songs in Black and White), combines original compositions with traditional Argentine folk songs, presenting a minimalist indie neofolk sound. This album tells engaging stories of individuals and moments that resonate across time and culture.
The album includes a range of narratives, from a young girl’s exile after an unplanned pregnancy to a love story that remains unfulfilled. Luna’s lyrics and music evoke themes of struggle, resilience, and the passage of time. Juana sings about “those journeys in which you leap into the void and leave your home forever, whether you know it or not.”
“Emilia” is a standout track, a moving tribute that sets the emotional tone for the album. Juana elaborates, “I realized much later that every song is a bit my journey, but also my mom’s, and my grandmother’s, and my great-great-grandmother Emilia’s.”
“Emilia’s story was not told because they were ashamed, because she got pregnant, she was 15 years old in Italy, and they put her on a ship and sent her to Argentina. Alone,” she continues after a pause. “And that’s where my family comes from. That is where I come from. I found out about her last year from an aunt who told me the story. My mother never told me. So, I feel that not only did her own family condemn Emilia, but all the following generations condemned her as well—and I am making a break here.”
“All the characters in these journeys have big vulnerabilities,” says Luna. “Emilia is pregnant. She has everything to lose.”
Songs like “Barco de Papel” echo these themes, and “Flor de la Noche” addresses historical struggles for women’s rights, alluding to the ‘Me Too’ movement. Luna’s storytelling often reflects broader social issues, as seen in these deeply personal songs. “In “Flor de la Noche,” the woman is alone with her scars in the middle of the night, her voice quivering. These people and their journeys share something deeply human,” says Luna.
One of the more unique stories is that of Olmedo Renteria, known as Olmedini El Mago (Olmedini the Magician), an Ecuadorian street performer who, despite blindness, continued his craft in New York City subway stations. This story is captured in the track “Olmedo,” honoring his resilience.
Luna’s arrangements are spacious and minimalist, with folk and tango elements that infuse the album with delightful Argentine flavor. The music allows her stories to unfold naturally. Notably, four of the album’s songs feature exquisite string quartet arrangements, commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra during their 2021 NY Phil Bandwagon series.
Canciones en Blanco y Negro is primarily sung in Spanish with a lovely Argentine accent, with one track in English.
“My grandparents, my great-grandparents, were all musicians and very traditionalist. I grew up going to horse-riding marches, dressed as a gaucho,” she recalls. “The first thing I did as a kid was to get on a horse, go to jineteadas (a rodeo-like event very popular in rural Argentina, Uruguay, and the South of Brazil). That was my childhood.”
“My family participated a lot in these things; traditional horseback rides, marches that lasted days. Gauchos from all over the province of Buenos Aires came dressed in their Sunday best, and every night, there were guitarreadas (open sessions of guitar playing and singing), and I danced every folkloric style. I knew them all. It was a very strange thing because, afterward, I would go back to Buenos Aires, to my bilingual school, and I was the freak who knew the whole folk music repertoire.”
“This is an album about women. My mom passed away a few years ago, and ‘Las Golondrinas’ was her song,” says Luna.
Additionally, Juana sings “La Paloma” (The Dove), a traditional Spanish Basque song that was a favorite of her grandmother, evoking the arrangement her grandparents sang together when she was a child.
“My whole world is in this album,” she says.
Luna’s previous work includes her 2017 self-titled EP and her 2019 debut album, Ocean Avenue. Luna, who studied Contemporary Writing and Production at Berklee College of Music, now resides in Brooklyn, New York. Her music remains deeply rooted in the traditional Argentine folk she grew up with, as reflected in her renditions of folklore classics like “Las Golondrinas” and “Merceditas,” which recounts a tale of unrequited love lasting decades.
Musicians: Juana Luna: vocals, guitar; Federico Díaz on guitarra criolla; Sebastián de Urquiza on double bass; Pedro Rossi on guitarra criolla; Milagros Caliva on bandoneon; Eduardo Mercuri on mandolin; Claudia Spalletta on violin; Noelia Garasino on violin; Ana Corrado on viola; Lucía Gómez on cello; Asher Kurtz on guitars, synth, samples, bass; Ludovica Burtone on violin, viola; Agustín Uriburu on cello; Loic da Silva on accordion; Eleni Arapoglou on vocals; Roberto Giaquinto on drum set; Leo Genovese on synths; Juan Chiavassa on tambores; Rodrigo Bauzá on violin, viola; and Constance Ricard on cello.
Executive Producers: Juana Luna, Kavita Shah
Co-Producers: Juana Luna, Kavita Shah and Asher Kurtz (for “Barco de Papel”, “Together”, and “Emilia”)
Cover photography by Nicolás Manassi
Cover design by iwantdesign
Buy Canciones en Blanco y Negro.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.