Marchita is the second album and Glassnote debut from Mexican singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
Silvana Estrada. Her first, Lo Sagrado, was recorded with guitarist
Charlie Hunter and released in 2017 -- it captured the imagination of indie music lovers on both sides of the border and won her a guest spot performing at a stadium in Mexico City alongside
Natalia Lafourcade and
Mon Laferte, and touring spots with
Jorge Drexler and
Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Marchita was recorded in Mexico City over five days in 2019 with producer and musical director Gustavo Guerrero and a small ensemble that includes strings, brass, and reeds as well as guitars, keyboard, and percussion instruments.
Estrada sings and plays cuatro throughout. Unlike the indie pop sensibility so pervasive on Lo Sagrado,
Marchita is steeped in tradition but far from traditional. This album makes use of her entire musical background, including indie pop, classical, jazz, and Latin American folk traditions. It is rendered simply and directly, deeply influenced by the poetic tradition of women composers including
Chavela Vargas,
Violeta Parra, and
Soledad Bravo.
Opener "Más o Menos Antes" is about the loss of love delivered in slow waltz time. Accompanying herself on quatro she meets the abyss of loneliness head on and lets it wash over her. The single "Te Guardo" celebrates the overwhelming euphoria of new love.
Estrada surrounds herself with her quatro, Roberto Verástegui's piano, and an intimate string quartet. She emerges from the instrumentation to see herself reflected in the eyes of her beloved. "Un Día Cualquie" offers a soaring promise of possibility above a Farfisa organ and percussion choir. "Sabré Olvidar" is a spacy, intimate ranchera with vibraphone, upright bass, and a string quartet. Halfway through, the strings swell while framing a glockenspiel as
Estrada's voice cracks with emotion. The title track offers payback to a lover who scorned her. Rage flows freely though
Estrada's lyrics, though her voice remains sweet with sadness as cuatro and string quartet buoy her protagonist toward healing. On "Tristeza,"
Estrada confronts the frozen emotional state in the prolonged aftermath of a lost relationship. With organ, vibes, saxophone, and choral support, the grain in her voice moves through grief and confusion but finds the resolve necessary to transcend the stasis. The vanguard sounds on "Casa" recall some of
Björk's more experimental moments as
Estrada sums up her experiences with searing honesty. Closer "La Enfermedad del Siglo" is an instrumental performed by
Alfredo Pino on flugelhorn and Verástegui on organ. Freely referencing jazz and ambient music, its textures cast a spell that seemingly underscores her preceding lyric view that love is a pervasive disease that plagues and blesses all who encounter it.
Marchita's songs are solid, provocative, and deeply moving. Through them all,
Estrada's open, aching, vulnerable voice remains fierce and fearless. She carries her heartbreak and healing with honesty and courage and exhorts us to do the same. ~ Thom Jurek