It's been five years since Lido Pimienta's latest LP Miss Colombia, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album and, more importantly, was our Album Of The Week. Today, the Colombian-Canadian artist is finally announcing its follow-up, La Belleza, which experiments with classical music. The lead single "Mango" is out now.
"'Mango' took me back to my territory, to nature, to my people, to my village, where I watched love unfold all around me,” Pimienta says. “I’ve always had an aversion to writing love songs — especially if they’re about a man (insert barfing sound). But at the time, my love life was in a nebulous state: unrequited love, love from the past, love in the present — it was all I could think about. I resolved the hetero issue by keeping my love songs genderless. The sensuality is in the innuendo, in the nuance. I’m very proud of this song.”
The record was produced alongside Owen Pallett and was influenced by the Luboš Fišer soundtrack for the film Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders. About La Belleza, she adds:
La Belleza means The Beauty in Spanish, and I held on to that word fiercely — it carries so much meaning but so much emotional weight. Mainstream beauty has damaged my self-esteem, colorism has poisoned my people, and fatphobia refuses to go away. La Belleza was watching nature regenerate itself when we weren’t consuming as much. La Belleza was able to see and live near family again, realizing how much we had taken for granted, how fragile life was, how quickly it could be taken by a virus.
Check out "Mango" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Overturn (Obertura de la Luz Eterna)"
02 "Ahora"
03 "Quiero Que Me Beses"
04 "Mango"
05 "Aún Te Quiero"
06 "El Dembow del Tiempo"
07 "¿Quién Tiene La Luz? El Perdón."
08 "Tengo Que Ir"
09 "Busca La Luz"
La Belleza is out 5/16 via Anti-.
