It‘s hard to pinpoint precisely what makes Paula Cendejas‘ music outstanding. There is an unusual, forward-thinking current within this blend of pop and R&B. With her La Cendejas project, she plays at Hello Tomorrow on March 22.
The songs, written while crying, screaming and laughing, are often stripped down to their bare minimum. Small decorations like the sound effects in OMEGA become monuments. No unnecessary fat weighing down the composition of the Spanish rising star.
Cendejas told El Diario about the 2024 EP TSUNAMI:
„It is the most personal project to date, and people who listen to it will be able to get to know me a little better and, perhaps, identify with some of my experiences. It has been the most healing and satisfying experience I have had in my entire career.“
TSUNAMI, not the EP but Cendejas‘ latest single released in January, demonstrates an intimate vulnerability, a subtle piano leaving the spotlight to the vocals. Floating and hopping until the flickering synth disrupts.
The soon 30-year-old, Madrid-based artist also delivered a haunting performance at COLORS, a place with an impeccable record of championing excellent music. But both TSUNAMI and COLIBRÍ only hint at the explosiveness slumbering in her sound.
However, when Cendejas opens the tabs, for example, with TATAMI, CAFEINA, or X, exhilaration washes through the minimal arrangements like the winds through downtown’s street canyons.
The juxtaposing poles, the quiet and intimate and the fiery and flickering, are promising outlooks for La Cendejas’ gig at Hello Tomorrow. Get your ticket here.
Janosch Troehler
