It makes excellent sense that veteran Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar launched probably the most considerate and impressive album of his profession throughout a tumultuous time in his life. Art has a capricious tendency to thrive in battle and uncertainty.
“It’s the one album that finest defines my character,” Aguilar says over Zoom about “Que Llueva Tequila,” a chic, unhappy assortment of música mexicana love songs punctuated with deep rock ‘n’ roll overtones — and nearly experimental. Released earlier this summer season, it obtained essential acclaim, however numbers on streaming platforms had been lukewarm.
“This is the primary time I’ve delved into components of rock and psychedelia that do not usually seem in mariachi music,” he explains. “I owe this document to myself and I’m pleased with the ultimate product. But I’m not naive. I knew streaming providers would not bounce on the likelihood so as to add these songs to their playlists,” he provides with a hearty snigger, punctuated by a tinge of cynicism.
At 56, Aguilar is among the most revered masters of up to date Mexican music. The son of late golden period icons Antonio Aguilar and actress Flor Silvestre, he’s a part of a singing dynasty that now contains his daughter Angela20, and son Leonardo, 25. Pepe and his kids just lately appeared collectively on Giaripeo with out borders tour – a standard cross between live performance and equestrian present.
“Working with Pepe on his ‘MTV Unplugged’ was some of the enriching moments of my profession,” says acclaimed singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade. “From the primary second I used to be struck not solely by his extraordinary expertise as an artist, but additionally by his profound humanity and sensitivity. Pepe shouldn’t be solely an icon of regional Mexican music, but additionally a bridge that unites totally different generations. I’m grateful to have been a part of his musical story – his ardour for all times continues to encourage us all.”
In the Nineties, after an ill-fated enterprise into rock with the band Equs, Aguilar set his sights on Mexican music and made a reputation for himself as a brash innovator. On albums just like the now-classic “Por Una Mujer Bonita,” he broke new floor by introducing uncommon instrumental mixtures. As a producer, he anchored the songs in preparations so treasured and velvety they appeared destined to be framed in a museum. Aguilar additionally turned an enormous live performance draw all through the Americas with a gentlemanly vocal type paying homage to Twentieth-century Mexico: a heady mix of jubilant ranchera and hazy bolero pathos.
But every part adjustments within the fickle world of pop music. Last 12 months, Aguilar was concerned in a short and viral Twitter spat with a rising star Nathanael Cano for his disgust on the new wave of corridos tumbados. His daughter Ángela has been within the public eye because of her current marriage to a controversial singer Cristiano Nodale. And after years spent in Los Angeles, the Aguilar household moved to Houston, the state the place he was born.
“It was a sudden however crucial change,” he says. “We had been slightly bored with the chilly vitality of Los Angeles. We needed one thing totally different. I by no means imagined I’d really feel so snug right here. We are blissful for now, however we could return to Los Angeles sooner or later.
In some ways, “Que Llueva Tequila” is Aguilar’s emotional response to every part that’s taking place round him.
“This might be the seventh or eighth time I’ve utterly reinvented myself,” he says. “It’s a brand new daybreak; a brand new method of doing issues.”
Like the venerable traditional rock aura from which it attracts, “Que Llueva Tequila” calls for affected person listening. “Corazón a Medio Día” begins with the boldness of a mild accordion line, however there are some Pink Floyd-style electrical guitars buried within the track’s seraphic outro. And the sector rock vibe that kicks off “Hasta Que Me Duermo” turns into downright symphonic when Aguilar belts out the massive refrain about obsessive heartbreak — a second that may finest be described as progressive ranchera. Some of the songs had been written by longtime collaborator Enrique Guzmán Yáñez. Others are by Pablo Preciado, the singer-songwriter of the Mexican pop group Matisse.
“Maybe I’m presumptuous, however I believe we would have stumbled upon a brand new sound,” he enthuses. “The music enterprise is nothing greater than a sport centered on getting cash and following what everybody else is doing, and lots of experimental data by no means make it to the mainstream. But now that every part is sweet – now which you could embody probably the most vulgar expressions possible in a track – why not see what occurs with these new sonic prospects.”
Clearly, Aguilar goals for the unapologetic irreverence of mendacity downtheir tales of sexual prowess and leisure medicine. He laughs once I confess to him that I like the brand new, coarse sound of Mexican music.
“I do not really feel the inclination to incorporate swear phrases in my songs, or to sing praises to the convoys of drug sellers parading via the streets,” he says. “I do not see myself because the protagonist of a musical both, as a result of I do not like musicals. This doesn’t suggest I’m bizarre or overtly essential. The optimistic side of all this creative liberation is that Mexican artists at the moment are a part of the worldwide scene. Suddenly, the doorways are broad open for all of us.”
Peripherally, Aguilar’s kids are additionally a part of the brand new wave, at the least on a generational stage. As the daddy of grownup kids, he’s sensible sufficient to distance himself from the poisonous labyrinth of tabloid flashes and social media poison.
“We all come into this world to study some classes, and the curriculum is tailor-made to every distinctive particular person,” he displays. “We are only a small piece of an enormous cosmic puzzle. At 56 I can let you know that my kids at the moment are adults, answerable for their decisions and the results of these decisions. Our work as dad and mom is already accomplished: we grow to be observers. Of course you undergo for them, however it’s a must to shed your paradigm of how issues ought to be. Dealing with all this was tough, but additionally liberating.”
These existential reflections could clarify the veiled and melancholic ambiance that informs the songs of “Que Llueva Tequila” – a prism that provides depth to his singing.
“Music works like a launch valve,” he says. “Not to place myself within the function of sufferer – qué flojera – however I are inclined to concentrate on the injustice of life and its deep ache, and there may be definitely a number of that round, my brother. Every artist has a mission and mine is to sing to unhappiness. Someone has to do the soiled work.”
