''Mena'' is the second

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 recording artist

Javiera Mena Javiera Alejandra Mena Carrasco (born June 3, 1983) is a Chilean indie electropop musician living in Lavapiés, Madrid. She started her musical career in the Chilean indie music scene in 2001, and achieved wider success after the release of h ...

. It was officially released worldwide on September 1, 2010 via iTunes, and on September 15, 2010 physically through indie label Unión del Sur, as a follow up to her successful debut, '' Esquemas Juveniles'' (2006). Javiera wrote and all the songs, as well as being the co-producer of every track in the album along with Cristián Heyne.The credits of ''Mena'' included in its album booklet. Unión del Sur, 2010. Production first took place in early 2008 and recording sessions at Heyne's personal studio. A couple of months before the album's release, its first single "Hasta la Verdad" was sent to radio stations. The music of ''Mena'' is rooted in the

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

-oriented styles, a lot more than in her previous album. ''Mena'' also draws inspiration from the pop and electronic music of the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

. At the end of 2010, iTunes Mexico named ''Mena'' "the breakthrough album that year".

Track listing

Critical reception

The album was highly acclaimed in the Latin music critic community, earning the first (and, to date, only) perfect 100 rating at

Club Fonograma Club Fonograma was a United States-based daily Internet publication established in 2008 that was devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, mixtapes, podcasts, and artist interviews. Its focus is on global pop and independent music fro ...

, (however,

Juana Molina Juana Rosario Molina (; born 1 October 1961) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and actress, based in Buenos Aires. She is known for her distinctive sound, considered an exponent of folktronica, although it has also been described as ambient, exp ...

's ''

Un día ''Un día'' () is the fifth studio album by Argentine singer-songwriter Juana Molina. It was first released on 6 October 2008 by Domino Records. Sonically, the album is abstract and consists of layered loops. It received generally positive re ...

'' had already achieved a five-star rating in 2008) and was later named the site's #1 album of 2010. The track "Luz de Piedra de Luna" was also named the site's single of the year for 2010. ''Mena'' also received a 4/5 rating from dance music website

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...

, describing the album as an "aural cocktail volatile by nature, but stable and powerful in its finished form," and called the record's sound as "dance-pop for lovers".

Personnel

*Javiera Mena – Production, composition and arrangements, programming, synthesizers, guitar *Cristián Heyne – Recording, mixing, programming, guitar, synthesizers *Jim Brick – Mastering *Pablo Bello – Strings recording *

Kelley Polar Kelley Polar, born Michael Kelley, is an American musician, alternative dance vocalist and music producer. He is based in Sullivan, New Hampshire. Career Originally a classical violist from Providence, Rhode Island, he studied at the Oberlin Co ...

– Strings arrangement, strings recording *Lara Pedrosa – Bass, backing vocals *José Miguel Tobar – Strings arrangement *Diego Morales – Programming *Andrés Silva – Hihat, percussion *Lido Pimienta – additional vocals *

Daniel Hunt Daniel Hunt (born 25 July 1974) is an English musician, songwriter and producer. He is a founding member, principal songwriter and producer of the electronic band Ladytron. Biography Hunt met Reuben Wu in Liverpool in 1995 and formed Ladytro ...

– Synthesizers, sound treatment *

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ric ...

– vocals
Rod
– Cover/artwork photography *Alejandro Ros – Design

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Javiera Mena albums Spanish-language albums