Arcángel has a new recording alter a 5-year hiatus

On October 11th, 2011 Arcángel’s new album “Quijote de los Sueños” will become available.  It’s the fourth of his career, and the singer defines it as “a varied work with lots of open territory, high-quality texts and the contribution of new concepts.  The aim is purity and renovation, delving into melodies with fresh-sounding flamenco.  Modifications to the structures have to be made from the ground up.  In the last 40 years, flamenco has undergone tremendous change, and shows now have to compete with other musical offerings.  Many people have been hard at work, although at times we’ve adopted things that weren’t that good.  Now, after the boom, flamenco wants to evolve starting from the roots, in a more solid manner”.

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Those words make sense when you hear the opening song, which is very sweet tangos by Dorantes and Arcángel, with the verses of José Luis Ortiz Nuevo and arrangements by Dorantes, with the guitars of Daniel Méndez and Miguel Ángel Cortes.  “We wanted to focus on young people”.  A magnificent beginning to the record, and a declaration of intentions.  The title song is fandangos de Huelva dedicated to Paco Toronjo.  “Alas y Olas” is tremendously delicate and subtle alegrías, sounding fresh without severing the roots.  “More often than not, flamenco sounds new because of the accompaniment, not the melodies”.

“Vivo por Recordarte” is soleá, while “Tu Voz es Mi Voz” is halfway between tango and rumba with the most sophisticated instrumentation of the album, including brass and programming.  “Cuando se Dice Te Quiero” gets back to fandangos, and is followed by “Amor Mío”, standard bulerías in which Arcángel shows his solidarity with festive forms.

The final stretch of the recording is the surprising “Los Dulces Peligros de la Música”, with absolutely novel piano, violin and cello, followed by “No Consigo” which closes out a modern fresh recording, with specific gravity, simplicity and artistry, all wrapped up in the voice of Arcángel.

“I think you have a general idea of what you want to achieve, good production, new ideas and always bettering what you’ve done before in order to move forward.  I wanted to show myself as I am.  At times I had some doubts, but we managed to overcome them” says Arcángel about the recording.  “I managed to dispell many fears, and face up to things that frightened me but which I really wanted to do.  I want to show my music, be a different kind of musician who enjoys what he does and tries to outdo himself every day…to be more me than ever before”.

Arcángel was born in Huelva in 1977, and at the age of ten won first prize in a children’s fandango contest at the La Orden flamenco club, a feat he repeated in two successive editions of the contest.  One year later he was singing in the company of Niño de Pura and José Joaquín, and went on to work with people like Cayuela, José Roca, Mario Maya and Manuel Soler.  After causing a stir at the tenth Bienal de Sevilla, Arcángel soon became a fixture in groups like those of Eva Yerbabuena, Javier Barón and Israel Galván, in addition to working with musicians from other genres in Cus-Cus Flamenco (2001) along with Segundo Falcón and the Orquesta Chekkara of Tetuán.

In 2001 he published his first solo record, winning the the Premio Andalucía Joven 2002, Premio Nacional Flamenco Activo de Huelva, Giraldillo en la Bienal 2002 and the Venencia Flamenca del Festival Flamenco Mistela.  He went on to work with the contemporary composer Mauricio Sotelo in “Cantes Antiguos” and “Sonetos de Amor Oscuro”.  In 2004 he published his second recording, “La Calle Perdida”, with guitarist Juan Carlos Romero, and in 2006 launched “Ropavieja” produced by Isidro Muñoz.

“Quijote de los Sueños” is a recording rooted in tradition but looking to the future, making inroads and serving as an example of artistic solidity and congruence.  His promise is: “a commitment to the art based on hard work, and fearlessness”.