ANRMAL - first-ever live album

Recorded at the NRMAL Festival in Mexico, in early March 2020, a few days before the world came to a halt in a massive lockdown, Juana Molina's live recording ANRMAL will bear forever the memory of things as they were ”before”. The powerful rock-punk vibe of the whole set gives us hope for a better world to come.

When she started out, over two decades ago, Juana’s music was rather reflective and stripped down. She mostly performed solo concerts, with her guitar, a keyboard and effects. Over the years, her shows gradually became wilder,  while her recorded output grew more intense and extrovert. The tours following her latest couple of releases definitely took Juana’s live show to a different level.

ANRMAL sees Juana Molina and her excellent bandmates Odín Schwartz and Pablo González at the top of their high-energy shape. It’s her first-ever live album, and will undoubtedly be a revelation to anyone who hasn’t had a chance to attend a recent concert.

The set contains tracks from Juana’s latest releases: the Halo, Wed 21 and Un día albums, as well as the Forfun EP.

The album was mixed by Juana Molina’s engineer Marcelo Coca Monte. It comes in a beautiful packaging, in LP (red vinyl), CD and digital formats.



Rewind

A master of mysterious experimental pop, Juana Molina is recognised as one of the most original and visionary artists around. Born in Argentina, she grew up in a musical environment. Her father, a revered tango singer/composer and her mother a talented actress. Molina took up guitar at age five and was exposed to her parent’s extensive record collection. Following the military coup of 1976, the Molina family fled the country for Paris. During her formative teenage years in France, Juana’s outlook on music expanded by regularly listening to radio stations that featured music from around the world.

When Juana returned to Argentina she was determined to pursue a career in music. She knew she had a knack for doing imitations, and decided to audition for a TV program where she was hired on the spot. Her popularity rose and three years later she had her own successful comedy show in Latin America, becoming the most popular comedian in Argentina. Seven years after her TV debut, Molina took the brave resolution to cancel the show and start marking music again, releasing her first album in 1996. After the release of her second and third albums she quickly became the darling of the international indie/electronic/folk scene. She went on to release a total of seven studio albums (including four on UK label Domino).

The New York Times has said, "Ms. Molina doesn’t imitate anyone. She has too much fun just being herself”, while Rolling Stone wrote that like Brian Wilson or Kevin Shields, she pulls off the most out-there material with melodies nearly as accessible as conventional pop”. She has variously been described as “pure genius” (Les Inrockuptibles, FR), “beguiling” (Pitchfork, US), and is said to be “one of the most extraordinary singers around, veering on genius” (Sunday Times, UK), who is “creating a slippery soundtrack for the subconscious” (Spin, US) and “subtle, unclassifiable sonic magic” (Uncut, UK), which is “essential for all humans in planet Earth” (Wire UK) and “endlessly bewitching” (Mixmag UK).

The entirety of Juana Molina’s albums is available through Crammed Discs.  

Rara (1996) | Segundo (2000) | Tres cosas (2004) | Son (2006) | Un Día (2008) | Wed 21 (2013) | Halo (2017) | EP Forfun (2019)