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Written in fRoots issue 331/332, 2011
 

MERCEDES PEÓN
Sós
Do Fol 10002048 (2010)

There’s nobody in Galician music like Mercedes Peón. She graced the cover of fR 214 back in 2001 at the time of the release of her first album Isué, which is still a magnificent landmark, and there’s new feature upcoming, so I’ll spare you the explanation of just why here.
     She’s not a prolific releaser of albums; they come out when she has something new to say, and a new one is an event. Galician label Do Fol, to which she’s moved after the debut on Resistencia and two more on Discmedi, celebrates Sós (which in Galego means ‘alone’) with a limited-edition black metal box bearing the letters SOS in Morse code.
     In sound it’s perhaps her most urban yet; the huge strength and sensitivity of her singing is surrounded by hefty and upfront use of the sampling tools of dance-music or hiphop, but they’re bent to the will of her deeply Galician music and shot through with the sounds and rhythms of stone on metal spade, squealing gaitas, and the skittering rattle of pandeireta. She has an archetypal Galician traditional voice, an absolute expression of the strength, shapes and sounds of the village traditions of the pandeireteras and gaiteiros she’s so familiar with; a voice of the rocky places that has resounded throughout time.
     Sós reflects her move in live performance from fronting a band to an extraordinarily powerful solo show, showcased to acclaim at Womex, in which she plays clarinet, gaita, pandeireta, snare drum and spade while triggering intricate samples, a demanding, complex task but none of it distracting her from the raw wildness and intense focus of her singing. Her taking on of the whole sound-creation process extends to the album too; her usual co-producer Nacho Muñoz wasn’t available this time, though he plays keyboards and samplers, so she did it all herself, and played most of the instruments.
     All the songs, while rich in traditional shapes and turns, are her own compositions, and while they’re entirely enjoyable to the wider world just as music, for a Galego-speaker her lyrics are a major factor. With an economy of words, the music resonating their strength, she sings of connectedness with Portuguese, Moroccan and Berber music and people, reflects on rich and poor, street demonstration, home and the warmth of family, and the Babel of internationalism, language and travel.
     Like Mercedes herself, Sós is dramatic, bold, and individual, breaking with the usual folk-revival ways while embracing and cherishing the characterful, lined faces of deep tradition.

www.folmusica.com. Distributed in the UK by Discovery: www.discovery-records.com


© 2010 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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