La Bien Querida

La Bien Querida
Romancero (Nacional)
By Camille Ikalina Robles

4 STARS
La Bien Querida is the moniker of Spanish musician Ana Fernández-Villaverde, whose recently released Romancero is an eclectic collection of simple yet compelling compositions, graspable melodies, and lyrics that explore all matters of love and relationships. The title translates to “ballads,” but this isn’t a collection of soft, empty whims of the heart. The sincere reflections of heartbreak, euphoria, anxiety, and fear are in one moment wrapped in folky guitar rock and in another in electronica-esque mixes tinged with an influence that is distinctly Spanish, yet so wholly and originallysomething else.
In the end, what essentially makes Romancero so lovely and compelling is Fernández-Villaverde’s alluring voice. “De Momento Abril” and “A.D.N.” are easy favorites because of this, the former for its danceable, percussive vocals, the latter for the lovely male and female harmonies. “El Zoo Absoluto” could be part of some eclectic indie mixtape, while “9.6” is purely dance pop with its floating backbeat and synths.
Non-Spanish speakers shouldn’t be discouraged. This album defies language barriers, and one could argue that translation could distract from its beauty. The songs manage to hover above multiple musical influences and genres, less like disjointed pieces and more like a collection of vignettes, with Fernández-Villaverde’s voice as the
anchor that keeps it all together.