Juana Molina's 'Un Dia'
A Healthy Dose of Samba Rhythm

Fans of electro-pop, folk, or Latin rhythms will all find a little something to enjoy on Juana Molina’s latest, Un Día, which hit stores back in October. The onset of rain here in L.A. couldn’t be more opportune, as Molina’s eight tracks serve as the perfect musical companion for a day spent indoors with the soft tapping of rain. That’s not to say the album is morose or cloudy; in fact, the album’s opener — the title track -– is a rather hopeful affair. But there’s something about the soft, repetitive sound of rainfall that is reflected in the music.

Un Día opens with Molina chanting the title on a loop accompanied by piano while she sings the verse of what sounds like a different song. From there, the song builds and fills out, incorporating drums, horns, warning sirens, and other assorted audio experiments. For those who don’t speak Spanish (myself included), the song has a frantic quality to it. A closer inspection of the lyrics reveals Molina’s desire to get away from it all. “Voy a viajar, voy a bailar / bailar, bailar, quiero bailar,” or in English, “I’m going to travel, I’m going to dance / dance, dance, I want to dance.” The music creates a sense of panic — the walls closing in around Molina as she sings her way to another place.

From there, the mood shifts to the understated acoustic guitar and piano of “Vive Solo.” The folksy guitar melody plucks along throughout the first half of the song before being washed out in a sea of digitally altered vocals and synths that permeate the entire album. The melody is radio-ready and anchors the song well, but Molina’s songs are long and winding journeys. At nearly six minutes, “Vive Solo” could only be a hit single in an alternate reality, where artistry isn’t anathema to FM radio.

Flowing on keyboards and samples on tracks like “Lo Dejamos,” “Los Hongos De Marosa,” and bright plucked strings on “¿Quién? (Suite),” Molina leads the listener to the danceable closing number, “Dar (Qué Difícil].” With an extended sample of a creaking door and a solid bass groove, the track seems to extend an invitation into Molina’s world. As that world opens up, it quickly becomes filled with various percussive elements, chimes, and guitars that peak and drop as the song makes its way to the seven-minute mark. All the while, the rhythm continues to build, keeping the listener hooked in a trance. If one track sums up the feel of Un Día, this is probably it.

The album fluctuates between the subtle, organic sounds of acoustic instrumentation and the booming, synth-heavy sounds, with a healthy dose of samba rhythm sprinkled throughout. But if it appears as though Molina is suffering from an identity crisis of sorts, her masterful blending of these diverse elements should put such accusations to rest. Her artistic vision is clearly executed on this album, which demands the listener to follow Molina from beginning to end. Each song bleeds into the next, creating an ambience that perfectly matches the weather this week: clear and sunny one minute, caught in a deluge the next.

By: Casey A. Thompson