Pao Barreto will unveil her new album “Spiralis” on its physical release (CD and vinyls) April 9, 2021 and digital release April 30, 2021 on El Clan Records / Inouïe Distribution.
This new work will be presented live on stage on Friday September 24, 2021 at the Studio de L’Ermitage (Paris).
The story begins on December 21st, 2012, a very symbolic day : according to the cosmogony of the Maya who conceived time as a succession of cycles, on that day humanity was meant to disappear. The alignment of the Sun and Earth at the centre of the galaxy marked the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. At that same moment, the young Pao, then a fashion designer in Bogota, leaves her homeland, determined to fully embrace her vocation : music.
She decides to set up in Paris to resume her musical studies. During 3 years, she studies the basics of traditional percussion with Paul Mindy in a Parisian academy of music, as well as a degree of ethnomusicology at Paris VIII University. At the same time, she joins several latin bands and begins her career as a singer, exploring different styles : Cuban music with La Cubanerie and Who’s the Cuban, orchestral cumbia with Cumbia Ya !, traditional colombian carribean rhythms with Cumbia y Cardón. She also collaborates with The Bongo Hop, with whom she records the song Nos Coge la Tarde.
On stage, Pao shines and radiates. As concerts go by, the Parisian audiences quickly get addicted to her powerful energy and her warm tone of voice.
After six intense years of touring on French and international stages, the journey of Pao reaches a turning point. In March 2020, she produces Spiralis, her first album as a singer and songwriter. The album is recorded between Paris (with El Speaker and Nicolas Vair) and the Groove Studios in Bogota (with Nicolás Cajamarca, Jorge Corredor and 2018 Latin Grammy Harbey Marin).
Spiralis, the spiral, symbolizes the cycles of life, the endless renewal of vital energy. In fact, Pao has been familiar with this symbol for a long time : long before arriving in France, she had several experiences of exploring her inner world with yagé, a medicinal beverage from the pre-Columbian people of Putumayo. During night-time ceremonies led by the taitas (shamans), the plant would always reveal to her those sacred geometrical figures.
With Spiralis, Pao shares with us two faces of her artistic world : warm, joyful and lively on one side ; mystical and introverted on the other. Her compositions are influenced by many genres : caribbean rhythms (bullerengue, champeta, cumbia) intertwine with electronic sounds, alongside touches of soul, funk and reggae. The lyrics -both in Spanish and French- obviously have to do with the cyclical rhythm of the universe, but also invites us to reconnect with nature and celebrate the capacity we all have to transform ourselves.
Spiralis will be launched in April 2021. Whether you choose to discover the album with eyes closed in meditative listening, or to let yourself go into a joyful trance… you will be carried away by a transcendental spiral. So let’s all be there to continue writing the story with Pao !
