| Soema Montenegro – Passionaria (2011) |
Soema Montenegro – Passionaria
Location: Haedo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Record Label: Western Vinyl (USA/CAN) / ACQUA RECORDS (Arg.)
Album release: May 24, 2011
Genre: Acoustic / Experimental / Folk
Website: http://soemamontenegro.com.ar/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/soemamontenegro#
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soema1
Hailing from the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Soema Montenegro performs Latin folk inspired music, but with a bit of an edge. Montenegro is an incredibly talented vocalist, with operatic quality in her voice. Her music is so sensual and overwhelming, that it sometimes seems perilously close to madness. She is also quite theatrical, and it comes through clearly in her singing, even just hearing and not seeing her perform. There’s intense passion in her voice, and drama in the interesting instrumentation. The melodies are simply beautiful. I can’t imagine most of the readers of this august web-zine running out to buy this, but I certainly enjoyed this quite a bit. I especially loved “Milonga de la Ensonada,” sounding like it could have come out of some Argentinian equivalent of a Broadway show.
By Bryon Hayes
Argentinean songstress Soema Montenegro possesses a surprisingly bountiful vocal range. More importantly, her voice has a singular expressiveness that literally translates the Spanish lyrics she sings into a raw, emotional resonance. Passionaria is Montenegro's sophomore release and her first for a North American label ― the 12 song-poems are barely contained within the small silver disc from which they spin. Packed with an intense sense of the theatrical, Montenegro's tales are, at times, carnival-esque and at others extremely sensual. The addition of both modern and traditional instrumentation serves to heighten the drama. The most compelling instrument, however, is Montenegro's unique voice: she caterwauls, gurgles, moans and wails her way through Passionaria as if every ounce of herself is being poured into the music. The result is a dynamic, passionate and outright wild bunch of songs.
(Western Vinyl) 
Songs:
01) Leyenda Del Cururu
02) Flores Del Desierto
03) Cuando Pasa
04) Milonga De La Ensoñada
05) Rio Arriba
06) Colibri
07) Invocacion A La Passionaria
08) El Camalote
09) Profundidade
10) Cancion Del Dragon
11) En El Viento
12) Moleculamente
Soema Montenegro has been described as a poet, a shaman, and an excellent cook. She may be all of these, but above all, she's a world-class singer. Intense and dramatic, her songs echo the vibrant landscape and culture of her native Argentina.
Soema honed her voice and songwriting skills for years before releasing her debut Uno Una Uno (2008), which grabbed the attention of La Blogotheque's Vincent Moon. He was so taken by Soema's charm and skill that he chose to film this relatively unknown artist for the website's special 100th Take Away Show. Watching Soema perform we witness her magically shift from a deep smoldering moan to a wild, but perfectly controlled caterwaul.
You don't have to understand Spanish to be enchanted by Soema's theatrical and impressionistic story telling. Her music is so sensual and overwhelming, that it sometimes seems perilously close to madness. Its mystery burns with a heat barely contained by the angular and precise fingerwork of the accompanying musicians. Like Yma Sumac and Meredith Monk before her, Soema is using her voice to innovate and push the boundaries of pure human expression.
Selected Press:
“Soema is the best singer on the whole planet”
– Vincet Moon, La Blogoteque
"Argentina's Soema Montenegro possesses the chops to be one of the latter day vocal greats and her expansive sound seems bound for the stages of Carnegie Hall and the world's fine concert venues."
– Pop Matters
“Buenos Aires-born songstress and multi-instrumentalist Soema Montenegro is a rather formidable force on the modern folk scene. While she performs her emotive songs in Spanish, they portray enough theatricality and raw emotion to transcend any language barriers. This impressive characteristic and her powerfully haunting voice has won her an international audience in addition to tremendous critical acclaim. With the release of her debut album in 2008, influential director Vincent Moon asked Montenegro to be featured on the 100th episode of his renowned Take Away Show. With this publicity, the singer/songwriter and her enchanting, experimental folk gained the much deserved widespread attention Montenegro enjoys today.”
– WCities
“The new folklore with international projection is a girl with an incredible voice”
– Rolling Stone (Argentina)
"…she is a musician of course, but also a shaman…her magic has gone through time, and settled in the soul of the singer, finally to be offered to us."
– Pinkushion
Bio:
Soema Montenegro Cantante, compositora, escritora, guitarrista.. Sigue presentando su primer disco solista UNO UNA UNO, editado por el sello Noseso Records y producido por Zelmar Garín.. y adelantos de su segundo disco PASSIONARIA, que saldrá en Marzo 2011, producido por Juanitoelcantor y Jorge Sottile.. Las canciones que integran este trabajo, están tocadas por la frondosidad de los sonidos que habitan el paisaje latinoamericano, lo urbano y lo folklórico, invitándonos en cada composición a disipar un lenguaje singular, sin tiempo, deforme… Soema resuena el canto, y su música atraviesa la poesía, la palabra, el juego de la improvisación.
Hay sonidos profundos en el aire, en el cielo, en el pasto, en las manos, en los párpados. Todos mis cuerpos escuchan, silenciosos y atentos para saltar deliberadamente al vacío más dulce, cálido y delicado de la creación. En sus brazos me desarmo y vuelvo a armar en la inevitable fusión sonora de los cuerpos y la historia de este momento … el eterno presente de los sonidos. … hilos sonoros de mi sangre, inspiración de la palabra y el movimiento...
Hay una vibración que se acerca, que nos resuena, hay una música que nos canta al oído cuando el silencio nos contempla, la inmensidad de todo su océano nos llena, y el vértigo de ser, sin juicios y razonamientos, poco a Poco, minuto a minuto nos sana, solo es…
en Petit bain, Paris...foto: Stéphan Eloïse Gras