Estrella comes from Granada’s medieval quarter, growing up in the shadow of the Moorish Alhambra Palace. The album was recorded in Granada, Madrid and Cádiz. In Granada, at Enrique’s suggestion, they went to the caves in Sacromonte hill where they recorded some numbers live.

One reviewer perfectly described Estrella’s tremendously powerful and emotive singing when they wrote: “She enthrals. At twenty she wears her voice like a clinging vine of cante.” (flamenco-world.com)

The arrangements on the album are at times simple: her voice, hand clapping, and spectacular guitar playing. At other times, the arrangement is more sophisticated. But, always, Estrella’s voice shines through.

’Coquinas’ (Cockles) is the first track. It opens with flamenco guitar and clapping. Estrella Morente’s voice, when it comes in, is raw and passionate, with a wailing, wavering quality.

”…You must give it to me
The heel of your boot
So I can taconear”

Taconear is a flamenco dance technique, where rhythm is created by tapping the heels. ’En Lo Alto Del Cerro De Palomares’ (At The Top Of The Cerro De Palomares) has a fantastic flamenco vocal opening, backed up only by subtle clapping and percussion. Flamenco guitar comes in, together with vocal backing. There are olés from the background, as though the song has been recorded in front of a small audience.

”In the mirror of the water
I see myself and comb my hair…

Don’t come too close to the brambles
The brambles have prickles
That ruin aprons…”

This is one of the best songs on the album. The next, ‘Moguer’ is one of the bulerías. With a slightly more complicated arrangement, including double bass, this is a beautiful song. Morente’s voice is still strong, but softer, lacking the rawness of the previous track. The chorus is lovely too, consisting of a list of place names. But like other songs on the album, there are memorable lyrics (available in English translation in the sleeve notes):

”Sleep is like a bridge
Going from today to tomorrow
Underneath like a dream
Passes the water, passes the soul…”

The next song, ‘La Noche’ (Night) is a Soleá, with a return to the raw vocals of the first two tracks. With just Estrella’s voice and a guitar, it shows the power of simplicity. ‘Bulerías Of The Bola’ comes next. Here, there’s a strong use of rhythm through clapping - clapping on this album often sounds like heel tapping. There’s beautiful guitar playing too, and Morente’s voice is back in raw, wavering mode.

’Alcazaba’ begins with a wonderful but somewhat gentle flamenco guitar. This song is almost a duet between her voice and the guitar. There’s no clapping, no percussion. The beautiful acoustics raise the question of whether this was one of the tracks recorded in the caves. The track’s simplicity would suit such a setting.

’For Pastora’ is the one song actually written by Estrella Morente, though she handled most of the arrangements on the others. The songs on the album were chosen by her father, but this is hers, dedicated to legendary singer, Pastora Pavón:

“Not even the sun nor the break of day
Not even the sun holds so much beauty
As the metal of your voice”

This is a gentler flamenco song, and it’s followed by ‘Peregrinos’ (Pilgrims). Rawer flamenco singing, clapping and lots of encouragement from voices in the background are the mark of this track. ‘A Que Niegas El Delito’ (Why Do You Deny The Frenzy?) is one of the shortest songs on the album. It opens on beautiful, soft guitar playing. Morente’s voice perfectly evokes the words. The singer wishes to know what her beloved has against her. He is denying the frenzy, torturing himself, while she lives “tormented.”

’Pepico’s Tangos’ bemoans the absence of a lover. The singer grieves for the missing Pepe. ‘Soleá Grana’ too is a love song. ‘Galeria’ (Gallery) sees a miner walking down a street, wondering how his beloved is since he left her crying. This kind of sentiment suits not just the rawness of flamenco itself, but more specifically Morente’s voice. But here, it’s a softer bewailing vocal she utilises.

’Que Llege El Domingo’ (Let Sunday Come) is one of the longer tracks:

“Damn the person
Who taught me
To love
I used to have all my senses with me
And now I’ve lost them”

With a slightly more complicated arrangement, including bass and backing vocals consisting mostly of alés, there are also wonderful moments where the mood turns softer and more reflective, before the tempo, led by clapping and guitar, picks up again.

’Las Llamas Llegan Al Cielo’ (The Flames Reach The Sky) is the shortest track, and the last song on the album. It’s a return to the more Spartan guitar and voice format, with a more gently wavering vocal.

Among her family, Estrella Morente is known as the “Nightingale.” In ‘My Songs And A Poem’ she makes a spectacular debut, and the album has been a great success.

Kara Kellar Bell is a film and media graduate from the West of Scotland, with a passion for European novels, French films, silent cinema, and Brazilian music (everything from Daniela Mercury and other pop stars through to bossa nova). As a writer, she likes to have room to move around creatively, so she’s not located in one genre. She writes realism and also stories of a more fantastic nature, usually grounded to some extent in the real world. She also takes delight in writing across the sexual spectrum, and as a bisexual, considers it important to remind people that things are not always black and white, either/or, in sexuality or in gender. She is currently completing her first novel. For a selection of Kara’s writing on the Showcase section of this site, click here

© 2004 Laura Hird All rights reserved.