''Amiga'' ( en, Female friend or en, Girl friend) is the third solo
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by Chilean
Latin alternative
Latin alternative, or "alterlatino", is a brand of Latin rock music produced by combining genres like alternative rock, lofi, chillout, metal, electronica, hip hop, new wave, pop rock, punk rock, reggae, and ska with traditional Ibero-Ameri ...
singer
Álex Anwandter
Álex Anwandter Donoso (born March 24, 1983 in Santiago) is a Chilean singer-songwriter, musician, and film and music video director. He became popular as the vocalist for the band Teleradio Donoso (2005–2009). In 2010, he began work as a sol ...
. It was released through
Nacional Records
Nacional Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It is home to numerous artists including Manu Chao, Grammy-nominated Mexican electronica group Nortec Collective, Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, Argentine rock ...
on April 8, 2016. The album peaked at number eighteen on the United States
''Billboard'' Latin Pop Albums
Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine. It features Latin music
Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from ...
chart; his first entry on a national music chart. It won the
Pulsar Award for Album of the Year.
Background
The
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
"Siempre Es Viernes En Mi Corazón" was released on January 27, 2016.
Judy Cantor-Navas of ''Billboard'' called Anwandter's songs as being a combination of "a feeling of almost giddy abandon with sobering social themes."
She called the song as being a "dual spirit" to his 2011 single "
Cómo Puedes Vivir Contigo Mismo", which became a
gay anthem
A gay anthem is a popular song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the gay community, although some of these songs have also become anthems for the wider LGBT community. Not all songs labelled as "gay anthems" ...
for young
LGBT people
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
who faced discrimination in his home country of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.
In a ''Billboard'' interview, Anwandter explained that the track drew inspiration from alienation: "the product of non-stop work and living in what is sometimes an oppressive society" and called the song a
dance pop
Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
recording that "both ignores and embraces those feelings
f alienation"
The song also features vocals from Argentine
electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
band
Miranda!
Miranda! is an Argentine electropop band formed in 2001. Original band members include Alejandro Sergi (vocals), Juliana Gattas (vocals), Lolo Fuentes (guitar), Bruno de Vincenti (programming), and since 2003, Nicolás Grimaldi (bass). It is c ...
.
MTV.com
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
called the album "goregous" and called it to be "more lyrically up front than its predecessor".
MTV found the lead single to deal with societal issues such as negative attitudes of
homosexuality and Roman Catholicism
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and "deeper truths" on the working life in Chile.
The track "Manifiesto" is a "heavy, romantic piano
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
" and finds the singer declaring himself as a woman who becomes the "village
fag" in the eyes of his community.
The song is a
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
title of
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
that does not have any political stance.
Track listing
#"Siempre Es Viernes en Mi Corazón"
#"Cordillera"
#"Traición"
#"Amiga"
#"Mujer"
#"Manifiesto"
#"Intentarlo Todo de Nuevo"
#"El Sonido de los Corazones Que Se Quiebran"
#"Caminando a la Fábrica"
#"Qué Será de Ti Mañana?"
#"Te Enamoraste"
Charts
See also
*
2016 in Latin music
This is a list of notable events in Latin music (music from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking regions of Latin America, Latin Europe, and the United States) that took place in 2016.
Events
*February 24: Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias is recogni ...
*
Latin American music in the United States
Latin American music in the United States has long influenced popular music. Within the industry, "Latin music" influenced jazz, rhythm and blues, and country music, even giving rise to unique US styles of music including salsa, New Mexico, Teja ...
References
{{Authority control
2016 albums
Spanish-language albums
Álex Anwandter albums