Folkalist is thrilled to share that Ecuadorian singer-songwriter GRECIA ALBÁN’s new single “VIRGEN Y VOLCÁN” is out now! Her forthcoming album, NUBES SELVA (“Cloud Jungle”), will be released on June 13. You can listen to the new single here and pre-save the album here. You can also support the artist more directly by purchasing a digital download on Bandcamp. Musical traditions are disputed territories. For some artists, respecting and celebrating tradition means staying close to the sound that was. For GRECIA ALBÁN, honoring tradition means nurturing it by embracing change. Albán sings over a canvas of reimagined folkloric rhythms. It’s a sound built in layers — voices, drums, guitars, horns, synthesizers, and samples — including musical instruments and tools that, in many cases, simply did not exist at the time Latin American folk traditions were taking shape. From a family of anthropologists, Albán was born in Latacunga the capital of Cotopaxi Province best known for its active volcano. The powerful volcano is an inescapable presence in the daily life of the region “and the indigenous world allows itself to speak directly with the volcanoes with the mountains with the energies of nature while we as mestizos have lost that,” says Albán. “I grew up in the jungle” she says. “That's also present in the music.” Albán captures this reality in tracks such as “VIRGEN Y VOLCÁN”, which started as a request by her father “to write a song for Latacunga, as a gift.” You can watch the video for the song below.
