Canciones para el tiempo y la distancia

Chronique

Rarely in Spain has a natural gift for music been as evident as in the case of Galician Iván Ferreiro (Galicia, Spain). Nevertheless, it is hard to speak about this artist without mentioning his musical past leading los Piratas (the Pirates), easily the most talented rock/pop band that emerged from Spain. It would be simply untrue not to admit that after the band's split, the fieles (worshippers, as the fans called themselves after 1997 Los Piratas' Manual Para Los Fieles) were seized by emptiness, thinking they were not going to experience world-class music in Spain ever again, but what this first solo project, on which his brother Amaro plays, reveals is that Ferreiro was the pirate. Almost everything that was in his previous project remains here: high quality lyrics and, above all, the voice, a little more nasal (too much sometimes) but with the same distinctive, occasional roughness which makes it as unique within Spanish music as Liam Gallagher's voice is in British music. Nonetheless, this is not los Piratas, and the most evident sign of this is that Ferreiro has lost part of the pirate's power, which does not necessarily result in a loss of quality; instead, it seems more an evolution from a rock band energy to the intimacy and meditation of loneliness. "Turnedo" and "Spnb" (acronym for "our kisses are beautiful" in Spanish) are good samples of this melodic pop. "Ciudadano A" (Citizen A, presumably about Spain's ex-President José María Aznar and his support of the Iraq invasion) is a political song which shows Ferreiro's unique capacity to convey emotion merely with his voice. However, despite what has been previously stated, Ferreiro's music is not in the typical songwriter style, riddled only with soft guitar and melancoholic words, and it is still possible to find signs of his rock side with "Abrázame," an excellent rock/pop version of the famous bolero by Rafael Ferro and Julio Iglesias. Canciones Para el Tiempo y la Distancia is, therefore, a promising first album which can be defined as a very good Los Piratas' endeavor which sets very high standards only surmountable by an artist with a musical background like Iván Ferreiro's.

© Alfonso Goiriz /TiVo