Alba Gárate (born 18 December 1980), better known by her stage name, Lantalba, is a Spanish singer, songwriter, musician, producer and actress, previously known as Lantana. She was born in Barcelona and raised in

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. She 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 ...

when she was 19 years old to study acting and pursue her musical career. She was signed 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 ...

/Virgin by 2006 and Rubie Music in 2010. She was nominated to several important Spanish awards, including The

21st Goya Awards The 21st Annual Goya Awards took place at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid, Spain on 28 January 2007. ''Volver ''Volver'' (, meaning "to go back") is a 2006 Spanish comedy-drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The ...

MTV Spain MTV is a Spanish pay television channel which focuses its programming on general entertainment and music. It was launched on 10 September 2000 and is owned by Paramount Global. It used to be available on the Spanish digital terrestrial television ...

Awards,

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

Awards Album of the Year and The Spanish Music Awards. She currently lives in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Biography

Lantana was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and raised in the southern city of

. It was here where she started to feel her passion for music. She remembers "I started writing on the school bus. I would sit by the window on rainy days and I would just make songs up". Her family had a pub and by the time she was 14, she started singing in rock bands and working in a local kareoke bar. Later on she would move into the jazz scene, starting and directing several groups. She then moved to

by the time she was 19 years old to pursue an acting career. Here she studied acting in ECAM and NIC of Madrid. She also studied with teachers such as Fernando Sansegundo, Fernando Piernas and Marta Alvarez. It was here where she began to sing standards and jazz in different clubs.

Music career

In Madrid she started to write her own songs again. She quickly began playing in singer-songwriter clubs and was soon noticed by then

/Virgin A&R, Javier Liñán, who offered her a record deal. At the same time, she acted in several short films and got to be better known from her small role in the movie

Azuloscurocasinegro ''Dark Blue Almost Black'' ( es, Azuloscurocasinegro, links=no) is a 2006 Spanish drama film written and directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. It was Arévalo's first film. He developed the story from his 2004 short film, ''Física II''. Plot Jo ...

by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, where she also wrote the original song "Imaginarte", which was nominated for "Best Original Song" at the

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

. In 2006 Lantana signs with

/Virgin and releases a self-titled EP, "Lantana". She releases her first LP, "Desorden y Amor", the next year with Cadiz native Suso Saiz as producer. This latter album was nominated by

's spectators as "Best Artist Revelation" 2007. The same year, the electronic band

Hotel Persona Bo Stefan Alexander Olsdal (born 31 March 1974) is a Swedish-Luxembourgish bassist/guitarist of the alternative rock band Placebo, he is part of the electronic band Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal and launched the electronic/dance remix at Hotel Perso ...

releases a remix of her first single, "Siempre". She also films the video of the unreleased song "Sally's Song" from

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and ...

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

. In 2010, no longer with EMI, Lantana goes to London to record her third album "Ex-Corazón", produced by Dimitri Tikovoi and releases it independently with her own label, Rubie Music. She spends the rest of the year and great part of the next one touring in Spain. She also released 2 videoclips, "Ex-Corazón", which aired in most of Spain's TV channels and "Perfecto", filmed in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. She relocated to Berlin in 2011 where she started working on her next album.

El Encanto (EP - 2013)

En EP recorded between Berlin and London, was produced by

Stefan Olsdal Bo Stefan Alexander Olsdal (born 31 March 1974) is a Swedish-Luxembourgish bassist/guitarist of the alternative rock band Placebo, he is part of the electronic band Digital 21 + Stefan Olsdal and launched the electronic/dance remix at Hotel Perso ...

(

Placebo (band) Placebo are a British rock band, formed in London in 1994 by vocalist–guitarist Brian Molko and bassist–guitarist Stefan Olsdal. Drummer Robert Schultzberg joined in late 1994, but left in 1996 shortly after the release of the band's epo ...

, who also played synthesizers in "Aquello del Querer" and "Desde que te fuiste".

Ex-Corazón (LP - 2007)

Album recorded entirely in London and produced by

Dimitri Tikovoi Dimitri may refer People * Dmitry, a male given name, Slavic version of Greek name Demetrios * Dimitri (clown) (1935–2016), Swiss clown and mime * Dimitri Atanasescu, Ottoman-born Aromanian teacher * Dimitri from Paris, French DJ * Dimitri Flower ...

(

The Raveonettes The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Bro ...

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...

and

Goldfrapp Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synthesiser) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). Despite favourable reviews and a short-listing for the Mercury Prize, their ...

Desorden y Amor (LP - 2007)

Album mostly produced by Suso Saíz, filled with many string arrangements.

Lantana (EP - 2006)

Lantana's debut album, Lantana, was released in 2006. It is composed of five songs, including "Imaginarte", song included in the original soundtrack of the movie

, and nominated to the

Goya awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

. Mostly produced by Lantana.

Present

She is currently working on a new LP, produced, played entirely, and mixed by

(

Discography

; Studio albums *2015: ''La Chica de los Ojos Dorados'' (LP) *2013: ''El Encanto'' (EP) *2010: ''Ex-Corazón'' (LP) *2007: ''Desorden y Amor'' (LP) *2006: ''Lantana'' (EP) ; Singles *2013: ''La noche de los muertos vivientes'' *2012: ''Estoy Bailando'' (Cover of Loretta and Daniela Goggi) ; Remixes *2010: ''Ex-Corazón'' (Remixes) *2007: ''Siempre'' (Remix by Hotel Persona:

and David Amen) ; Film soundtracks *2011: ''Ojalá (Vuela)'' (Original Soundtrack for The Magic of Hope) *2006: ''Imaginarte'' (Original Soundtrack for

)

Nominations

*2008: ''Spanish Music Awards'' (Revelation artist) *2007: ''

'' (Best original song) *2007: ''

Awards'' *2007: ''

Awards'' (Album of the Year)

Collaborations

*2010: Lantana joins 20 other Spanish independent artists playing in a benefit concert for the South Mozambique Foundation, helping to create music schools in that country. *2009: Lantana sang live in the Roman Theater of Mérida, for the 20th anniversary of the renown Spanish pop band Tam Tam Go's.

Charity work

* 2010 – Benefit concert for South Mozambique Foundation. * 2011–2012 - All sales of her song "Vuela" went to Theodora Foundation. * 2013–2014 - Part of her music sales go to

Oxfam America Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lantana 1980 births Living people 21st-century Spanish singers 21st-century Spanish women singers Singer-songwriters from Catalonia Singers from Barcelona Spanish actresses Spanish emigrants to Germany Spanish women singer-songwriters Spanish singer-songwriters