[Cover photo credit to Elana Lavine]
Venezuelan singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ane Díaz has announced her debut album Despechada, out June 9 via Rain Phoenix’s label, LaunchLeft. Inspired by her homeland of Caracas, Venezuela, the album is a reflection of Díaz’s homesickness for her country.
Díaz explains:
Despechada means heartbroken or without your soul. It’s a very powerful word used for love affairs, but that’s also how I feel about losing my country.
Ane Díaz has also shared her new single + visualizer for “Pueblos Tristes.”
She adds:
This reimagined tribute of Otilio Galindez’s ‘Pueblos Tristes’ might have been the first time I realized as a child the innate tenderness of sadness. A bystander wonders what the town thinks about at night…the girl grinding corn, the grim old man next to the old woman, the starving dog barking with pain… Only the moon knows all the stories of the town. It is with this loving sadness that I lament for the loss of my beautiful country and the daily struggle of Venezuelans everywhere.
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Jim White, Paul Fonfara, and John Keane, the project continues Díaz’s overarching themes of “family orientation and paying homage to her homeland.” This ties in with her reimagined renditions of the folk songs presented on the album. The album’s cover art also features a painting done by her brother Miguel of their cousin Vanessa.
Díaz released her debut EP Venezuela in 2018 with her single “Los Ejes de Mi Carreta” following in 2020. Her navigation through the American underground music scene is what ultimately led to her reconnection with her Venezuelan roots.
