Lucrecia Dalt: an extraterrestrial exploration of Bolero
Amid the sun-kissed beaches of Mallorca, an alien stands, licking rocks and studying her unknown surroundings. No, this is not a plot from the original Star Trek series; it comes from the profound musical mind of Lucrecia Dalt. The Colombian experimental musician had selected the role of an alien named Preta for the album ¡Ay!. Preta, as imagined by Dalt, can taste stratigraphy through her taste buds, a fitting attribute for a musician who expertly explores the cultural heritage of her native land.
Although now residing in Berlin, as an ordinary human with no stratigraphy-based special powers, Dalt has found fame by celebrating her Colombian musical roots. Since the release of her first solo album, Congost, back in 2011, Dalt has proved herself to be one of the most skilfully diverse musicians currently in operation. On her latest project, she took a fresh look at the rich cultural landscape of Colombia from the perspective of the alien Preta.
Through the medium of Bolero, Dalt and Preta guide the listener through her upbringing in Colombia. Described by Dalt as “Bolero sci-fi”, the record draws upon elements of experimental, electronic and jazz to convey its narrative. It provides a captivating, often melancholic atmosphere through the genre-bending sound of tropical influences and extraterrestrial electronic music.
In spite of its occasional melancholy elements, ¡Ay! is far from being a sad album. It encapsulates such a love for the roots of Bolero music, which originated in Cuba but soon spread to wider regions of Latin America.
Performed entirely in her native Spanish, the album raised a lot of discourse upon its initial release in 2022. As Dalt explains, she can understand the confusion when it is explained that she is playing the part of an alien, “Sometimes I read the lyrics and I’m like, ‘God, this is so insane’,” Dalt told NPR. “Other times, people ask me what the lyrics mean and I’m like, ‘Preta is channelling time through her glandular gate’. It feels bizarre that I’m saying that in the context of a Bolero song but, at the same time, it feels right.”
Far from the extraterrestrial influence of outer space, the spirit of the album is focused extensively on the musicians’ childhood in South America. “The best way for me to describe it would be the memory of cosy meetings at home with my uncles, the family gathering and talking.”, she explained, “The music was just there — very present”. The experimental star first began her music career in Colombia, releasing music under the name Lucrecia in the mid-2000s before moving to Europe and beginning her present solo career in 2011.
Since moving to Europe, Dalt has cemented herself as a unique voice in contemporary experimental music by constantly adapting to new sounds and atmospheres with apparent ease. While ¡Ay! could certainly be viewed as the latest in a series of remarkable records, it could just as easily be viewed as her magnum opus. The clear love, cultural heritage and warm nature of the album is just as fantastic as its inherent eccentricity, experimentation and outlandishness.
