Amaral is a Spanish rock duo from

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, who have sold more than four million albums worldwide. The band consists of

Eva Amaral Eva María Amaral Lallana (Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain 4 August 1972) is a Spanish singer-songwriter, and a member of the group Amaral with Juan Aguirre. She studied sculpture at the Zaragoza art school, and whil studying was the drummer in the ...

(vocals) and Juan Aguirre (guitar), who write their songs together. Amaral and Aguirre met in 1992 in a bar in Zaragoza. She played drums in a local punk rock band called Bandera Blanca and also sang with Acid Rain. Aguirre was playing with a band called Días de Vino y Rosas at the time. Soon after they met, the two decided to play together and perform their own material. In 1997, they moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and signed a major deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. Amaral's musical style is often called

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

, but it is often fused with

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

beats,

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, complex

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

, and in particular, traditional

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Their distinctive style was described by Juan as folk, "and the person who has heard a lot of folk and traditional music will listen and understand, but I think our attitude to life is rather that of a rock group." Juan Aguirre was born in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

(also known as Donostia) in the

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

province of Spain. He spent his childhood in the town of and currently resides in

, while Eva originates from Zaragoza. The inspirations for their songs include cinema, friends, and literature. Amaral have won numerous awards including the

MTV Europe Music Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

for their 2002 album ''Estrella de mar'', which was nominated for 5 other categories, and are one of the best-selling Spanish groups of all time. As of 2019, they have released eight studio albums, one (double) live album, and two live

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s. According to Eva, they are "a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

group that doesn’t think of music as a conquest or a competition... We chose music as a way to break a lifestyle that we didn’t like and a society that we don’t understand."

Collaborations

Amaral has collaborated with many well-known artists in the music industry: *

Álvaro Urquijo Álvaro Urquijo (born 22 June 1962) is a Spanish guitarist and singer-songwriter who is known as one of the founding members of the pop rock group, Los Secretos. He founded Los Secretos with his brothers Javier and Enrique Urquijo in 1980. Di ...

, contributions on the album '' Amaral'' * Tony Beard (

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

), on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

, on the song " Doce palabras", from the album ''Gato Negro Dragón Rojo'' *

Chetes Luis Gerardo Garza Cisneros (; born September 19, 1979 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México), better known as his stage name Chetes (), is a Mexican rock musician, well known for being the leader of the influential Avanzada Regia rock bands Zur ...

, on the song "

Si Tú No Vuelves "Si Tú No Vuelves" (English: "If You Don't Come Back") was first released in 1993 as the lead single for Miguel Bosé's studio album ''Bajo el Signo de Caín''. Background and release The song was written by Bosé, Lanfranco Ferrario and Mass ...

", from the album ''Pajaros en la Cabeza'' *

Beto Cuevas Luis Alberto Cuevas Olmedo (born September 12, 1967), better known as Beto Cuevas (), is a Chilean-Canadian singer, song writer, plastic artist, painter, and actor. He is the lead singer for the Chilean band La Ley. In 2008 he launched his solo ...

, on the song "Te Necesito". * Danny Cummings (

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

), on

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Melvin Duffyel (

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

), on

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

* Echo String Quartet, on

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. * Antonio Escobar, programming on the album ''Hacia lo salvaje'' *

Russell Milton Russell Milton (born 12 January 1969) is an English former professional footballer, born in Folkestone, who played as a midfielder in the Hong Kong First Division League for Instant-Dict and in The J League alongside Brazilian legends Socrates ...

(

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

), on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

, on the single " Escapar (Slipping Away)") * Danny Shogger (

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

), on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Pereza Pereza (Spanish for “laziness”) was a Spanish rock group from Alameda de Osuna (Madrid) comprising Rubén Pozo Prats and José Miguel Conejo Torres, artistically known as Rubén and Leiva. They have recorded six albums ''Pereza'', ''Algo para ...

, on the Spanish band's 2006 track "La Noria" from the album ''Los amigos de los animales''. *

Ariel Rot Ariel Eduardo Rotenberg Gutkin (born 19 April 1960), better known as Ariel Rot, is an Argentine musician. Rot moved to Spain when he was young and became a member of the group Tequila. Later, he began his solo musical career, after which he jo ...

, on the 2006 track "Sin saber qué decir" from his 2007 album ''Dúos, Tríos y Otras Perversiones''.

Discography

Studio albums * '' Amaral'' (1998) * '' Una pequeña parte del mundo'' (2000) * ''

Estrella de mar ''Estrella de mar'' ( en, Starfish) is the third studio album by the Spanish folk rock group Amaral released in Spain during 2002. Led by the first single and #1 hit "Sin Ti No Soy Nada", ''Estrella de Mar'' became the duo's breakthrough album ...

'' (2002) * ''

Pájaros en la cabeza ''Pájaros en la cabeza'' ( en, Featherbrain or literally, ''Birds in the head'') is the fourth studio album by the Spanish folk rock group Amaral released in Spain during 2005, that same year the album received their second nomination for a La ...

'' (2005) * '' Gato negro◆Dragón rojo'' (2008) * '' Hacia lo salvaje'' (2011) * ''

Nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

'' (2015) * '' Salto al color'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral Spanish pop rock music groups Folk rock groups Spanish musical duos Spanish rock music groups Spanish pop music groups Spanish indie rock groups Spanish alternative rock groups Rock en Español music groups Discographies of Spanish artists Musical groups established in 1992 Latin pop music groups MTV Europe Music Award winners Sony Music Spain artists