Ana Torroja

It's a bit late to be talking about Ana's recent album Fragil, but hopefully this is still informative. Fragil is the fourth solo album from Ana Torroja, who may be best known as the lead singer for the popular Spanish group Mecano. Ana was also featured on Deep Forest's 'Media Luna' and more recently on 'Sweet Lullaby 2003 ver'.


PRODUCTION

Production on the Fragil began early 2002. Eric explains how he got involved with the album.
“At the beginning I just suggested one or two songs to Ana that she recorded here [at Eric's home studio]. She liked them, and that was all. I think this was an exchange of ideas. So, passing time in the studio, we talked, we played music and she asked me to do the arrangements for a song I hadn’t composed. I accepted and little by little, I found myself working on the arrangements of half the tracks of her album. After listening to the songs, she asked me naturally, if I’d be interested in arranging the whole album, and if I had time to do it. This is how I embarked on that project for six months!"

It wasn't the first time Ana and Eric had worked together.
"Ana and I already knew each other little because we had made a song together for Deep Forest on the album ‘Comparsa’. Everything went smoothly and we said that we would see each other again, and maybe work on something."

Ana who currently lives in London, worked with Eric for six months at his home studio in Rumaucourt, in the north of France. Ana said,
“We could understand each other without speaking. It has been like living together somehow, working in a relaxed way, unplanned. Songs were alive all the time”.

Once the songs were written and almost arranged, Eric and Ana were joined by English musician, Simon Hale (Jamiroquai, Björk, Oasis...) to assist with the string arrangements for six of the songs.
“Simon has been another gift. I’ve always liked his work and he developed our ideas. He’s a humble musician, with a strong british sense of humor. I was deeply moved by his music”.

Ana participated in writing lyrics for many of the songs (Fragil, Me basta con creer, Libélula, Con un beso) as well as in every single step of the creative process in putting together the album.
“If I’m not involved, I can’t feel it, I can’t sing..I just feel ridiculous. That’s why I get close to the people I like, the ones you can talk to and share opinions. We met [Eric Mouquet], talked, tried to write together and together we started this project”.

Other people who participated in writing the lyrics were Jorge Drexler, Naomi Ruiz de la Prada, Fernando Montesinos and Dolores Beltrán. Saul, lead singer of Mexican band “Jaguares", also appeared on the duet Hoy Igual Que Ayer. Ana had also asked Peter Gabriel to appear on Fragil, but he declined.

Quien Dice was the first single off the new album, which was released on January 27th in Spain. Fragil was released soon after (Spain: Feb 16th | France, Belgium, Switzerland: Feb 24th | Mexico: March 4th | Latin US: March 18th | Chile: March 25th). And most recently released was the second single 20 Mariposas.


THE MUSIC

Fragil isn't like anything Mouquet has ever produced, "it's pop music, but really good pop music". The result of the collaboration is by far Ana's best solo album to date. Just as Ana's previous solo works were funk / jazz influenced, the album is more dream / fantasy like. There are a hand full of songs with irresistible melodies, among my favorites are Con Solo Un Beso, Me Basta Con Creer, El Arte De Llorar, and Quien Dice.

Simon Hale

Eric did a wonderful job arranging electronic-ethereal music around Ana's fragil voice, and it is his work that really makes this album stand out from her earlier music. A bit of credit also has to go to Simon Hale's strings arrangements which help add an extra layer of sophistication to the music.

As Eric and Ana said, the chemistry was there. I personally don't listen to this vein of music, and I found it a quite enjoyable listen. I wouldn't recommend the album to people looking for anything along the lines of Deep Forest or traditional-crossover electronic music, but if you like Latin pop or Ana Torroja this is a must have.