With three albums released in just three years, Julieta Gracián has managed to carve out a niche for herself in the panorama of urban music in Catalan thanks to a musical proposal that draws on artists like Billie Eilish or Rosalía filtered by the soft voice of this precocious composer who presents 5AM, a concept album about a platonic love that has given him “the best summer of my life” thanks to the multiple concerts he has held. “Most of my songs come from my house, from the dining room, with the piano or the guitar,” explains this 23-year-old engineering student who recently gave up her studies to focus on music.
On this occasion, it tells a story about an impossible love that is divided into three parts, three spaces and different times of the day that end up coming together at five in the morning. Through the city, the world of dreams and acceptance, Julieta goes through all the stages of a relationship with songs like the soft reggaeton of Digue'm el que sents, the dance of Cari, or the electronic pop of Avions volant, without forgetting Euga de nit, a title that translates the English “nightmare” into Catalan.
Self-taught, she admits that she is not a great pianist, “but I am good at composing, with music I have always been very intuitive, composition is something that is learned by doing,” she comments, highlighting everything she has learned in her still short career. . “After making a record, my level of songwriting is always higher.”
His new work offers a varied range of sounds, as varied are his musical tastes. “I listen to reggaeton, which in the end is the new pop, I love indie and electronic music, I'm even listening to punk,” he says, highlighting his love for La Élite from Lleida. “I love the literalness of the lyrics, direct and heartfelt. In my lyrics I like to be very literal, zero metaphors, I think it is something that is spreading a lot now, before it gave more respect.”
Regarding Catalan music, she likes to listen to colleagues like Mushkaa or Maria Hein, and highlights the change that is taking place in the current panorama. “For many years it has only been one way, with a very specific sound to the point that people thought that music in Catalan was a genre, always with trumpets and all-male groups at all the festivals.” Now, however, Julieta sees an open door that allows new proposals to be included. “There are many artists who wanted to make a type of music but thought they couldn't fit into the Catalan scene, and now they see that yes, it makes sense.” A change that many people had been waiting for for a long time: “We needed a great Catalan pop diva, now there are other girls who are starting and going down this path.”
Born in Barcelona, Julieta chose to sing in Catalan “because it has a beautiful sound, it is a very beautiful language, it is similar to French and I really like the way my voice sounds in Catalan,” she explains, and warns that “I have never done it as something vindictive.” The artist regrets this role because “at the slightest moment you make music in Catalan it seems like you are doing it to claim the language and no! "Whoever thinks I do it for this reason, don't listen to me." Her choice has a purely musical motivation, "for me choosing the language is like choosing a synthesizer, Spanish also has a beautiful sound, there are songs in which I have to use it to express myself because it has a different energy."
