DOM LA NENA CREATES A SERIES OF GORGEOUS CRYSTALLINE MOMENTS ON NEW ALBUM TEMPO DUE OUT JAN. 29, 2021 FROM SIX DEGREES RECORDS The multi-talented singer, songwriter, producer, and cellist, Dom La Nena’s new album, Tempo, is about time. With the new album the Brazilian-born, Paris-based artist created a series of small, crystalline moments – sometimes sunny, often dreamy, and occasionally laced with that beautiful nostalgia the Brazilians call saudade. The new album is due out Jan. 29, 2021 with Six Degrees Records. Her newest single from the upcoming album “Todo Tiene Su Fin,” is out now. Tying into the theme of time, the title translates to everything has it’s end and is a gorgeous song with Dom La Nena’s impressive vocals and songwriting sensibilities taking center stage. “This song is a reflection upon the notion of "infinity". Over time, we have become an extremely destructive species, that at some point, may not exist any longer. Consequently, the concept of the infinite is quite abstract for us. This is a reoccurring theme throughout the songs of Tempo, especially in “Todo Tiene Su Fin,” says Dom. The new song comes out on the heels of the multi-lingual lead single ‘Oiseau Sauvage,’ released in late 2019. The new album, Tempo, is La Nena’s third full-length release, after 2013’s critically acclaimed Ela, and her internationally-flavored indie-folk collection called Soyo in 2015. Dom is also half of the duo Birds On A Wire with Rosemary Standley (lead vocalist of the band Moriarty). Together, they have built a songbook from the baroque Henry Purcell to Leonard Cohen, passing by Gilberto Gil, Tom Waits, and Violeta Parra. They have released two albums (Birds on a Wire - 2014- and Ramages -2020) that are very successful in France, where they’ve been touring for almost 10 years. Add to that her time spent playing with Jane Birkin, Jeanne Moreau, Marcelo Camelo (from Brazilian band Los Hermanos) or Piers Faccini, and you have an artist with an eclectic, multi-lingual style that’s hard to define but easy to like. Tempo may sound like a lush tapestry of synthesizers, strings, and percussion instruments but really the album is a remarkable display of Dom La Nena’s arranging and orchestrating abilities. She created all the sounds on the album herself, using layers of her voice, her cello, and a few piano parts. Even the percussion sounds were made on the cello. “My intention on this album was to explore new ways to use my instrument, to change the original sound of the instrument and take it somewhere else,” she says. The album starts innocently enough, with the title track. “Tempo” acknowledges the cello’s Baroque roots and pairs it with layers of Dom’s vocals. “For the first time I had the desire to compose instrumental music. In the same way that I’ve tried to bring my cello far from his usual sonority, I also wanted to explore new musical genres.” Of course, there are lyrics on most of the songs, and in typical Dom La Nena fashion, those lyrics can be in Portuguese, Spanish, or French – or, as she points out, a mix of the three. “It is very difficult to explain because it’s not something I control. The music makes the demand to match the sounds, the words, the specific language rhythms.” Julieta Venegas joins her on "Quien Podr? Saberlo" with overlapping vocals, clapping, and dreamy cello arrangements to create a sonically stunning song. And by the time we get to the eerie, almost Near Eastern-sounding “Moreno,” La Nena is creating drones, percussion and what sounds like mallet instruments from her cello and effects. Tempo marks the return of a distinctive and exceptional musician. It’s about time.
