Tilting at a New World

Listening Post 323. When Alex Cuba imagined his eighth album his dream may have seemed unreachable: He wanted songs that reflect the struggle and emotion simultaneously separating and uniting all humanity but he didn’t want them forever associated with a pandemic. If threading that needle wasn’t challenge enough, his previous albums—earning him two Juno Awards, four Latin Grammys and three Grammy nominations—represented a tough act to follow. But with abundant respect for the work that went into the new opus by a singer-songwriter who has nurtured his Cuban roots for 20 years in the brisk climate of northern British Columbia, the grandeur of his vision and the way he strips his message to its essence should surprise no one. Mendó (The Substance of the Soul) revolves around two realities of our extraordinary time: Navigating the convulsions of a new landscape and grasping the permanence of love. Sitting at home, Cuba spanned great distances, remotely arranging vocal, instrumental and writing collaborations with artists from Spain to the Caribbean, from Mexico to Peru, leavening his own fusion of Cuban tradition, pop, soul, folk and jazz with veins of ranchero, cumbia, salsa, flamenco and funk. He teams with Cimafunk (“the Cuban James Brown”) in Hablando x Hablar (Talk for the Sake of Talking, video 1) a testament of doubt richly accompanied by a single upright bass and handclaps. Like explorers, Cuba and Mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs turn Mundo Nuevo (New World, video 2) into a healing meditation on crossing frontiers. Corazón Gitano (Gypsy Heart, video 3) converts time standing still to time travel, while Si Tu Me Quieras (If You Love Me, video 4) views a romantic spark in eternal terms. Arguably the track that most reflects the pandemic, Amor en la Distancia (Love in the Distance, video 5) evokes the determination of a great quest—or the inspiration to realize an impossible dream. (Caracol Records)

Related post. Alex Cuba: Sublime, Listening Post 251, May 5, 2020. https://worldlisteningpost.com/2020/05/05/alex-cuba-sublime/

Alex Cuba: Mendó / The Substance of the Soul
Alex Cuba: Vocals, guitars, upright bass, electric piano, keys, synths, programmed beat, Jazz Band, beatbox, bongos, congas, shaker, guiro, cowbell, hand claps, finger snaps
Marcos Sanchez: Keyboards
Yoshi: Programming
Adán Velazquez Faudoa: Wurlitzer
Joaquín Betancourt & Su Joven Jazz Band: Horns

Guest vocals: Cimafunk, Lila Downs, Antonio Carmona, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gian Marco, Raul Midón

Hablando x Hablar / Talk for the Sake of Talking (feat. Cimafunk)
Lyrics & music: Alex Cuba

In the opening track of Mendó, Alex Cuba joins with Cuban singer-songwriter-producer Cimafunk for an upbeat take on confusing times, and also an innovative concept of accompaniment by a single upright bass and handclaps. The song is reprised as the album’s final track with the addition of 13 horns from Joaquin Betancourt & Su Joven Jazz Band.

(From the Spanish lyrics)
Do what you like/Who can criticize here?
Don’t ask me/What’s right and what’s wrong

Sooner or later/All ideas are compromised
I know that no one has seen anything like this
The voice of experience/No longer counts
It’s just talking for the sake of talking

You still don’t know me/I don’t know if you want to talk
Maybe a “before” and an “in that case”/Will help me think

Sooner or later/All ideas are compromised
I know that no one has seen anything like this
The voice of experience/No longer counts
It’s just talking for the sake of talking

Sooner or later/All ideas are compromised
Don’t forget to breathe
The voice of experience/No longer counts
Just talking for the sake of talking

Mundo Nuevo / New world (feat. Lila Downs)
Lyrics & music: Alex Cuba

By a certain beautiful woman/My path was forged
By a certain beautiful woman/My path was forged
Walking in the white night/With the moon in the sky
My shadow didn’t scare me/My shadow didn’t scare me
And now I am a new man

Any little bird sings/When it sees the spring
Any little bird sings/When it sees the spring
It strengthens his throat/Having slept since January
If his song reaches the light/If his song reaches the light
He will be a new bird

The light that touches the planet/Disguised as a star
The light that touches the planet/Disguised as a star
Descends, removing the veil/Kisses the mountain
Knowing that if he seduces her/Knowing that if he seduces on her
He will be a new star

From everything bad comes/Something sad and something good
From everything bad comes/Something sad and something good
Comfort comes only/To those who understand
When the truth dies/When the truth dies
A new world is born

Corazón Gitano / Gypsy Heart (feat. Antonio Carmona)
Lyrics & music: Alex Cuba, Antonio Carmona

There are so many stories/Told by people
Who travel through time/Each one so different
I don’t know if it was love/Or what today we call luck
May nothing defeat us/And here we all are

Maybe this moment/Tells us more clearly
That all difference/Ends with people
Maybe life understands/That no reason is needed
To offer a hand/Say what speaks to you
There are those who talk non-stop

It’s always the same solution, wherever you want to look
Turn to the light, fill yourself with love and life

Dance whenever you want because you have to dance
And fight for dreams/So that you fulfill them
Turn to the light/Says the gypsy heart

I dive into the illusion/Believing that something exists
Myths that are truths/That today have roots
This moment serves me/To know that the soul is from God
And rancor is from the dead

Say what speaks to you/There are those who talk non-stop
It’s always the same solution, wherever you want to look
Turn to the light, fill yourself with love and life

Dance when you want, because you have to dance
And fight for dreams/So that you fulfill them
Turn to the light/Says the gypsy heart

And what else does it tell you/If in conclusion
Your reality is your version/Of the truth
No one can tell you otherwise

Say what speaks to you/There are those who talk non-stop
Always be the same solution, wherever you want to look
Turn to the light, fill yourself with love and life

Dance when you want because you have to dance
And fight for dreams/So that you fulfill them
Turn to the light/Says the gypsy heart
Turn to the light/Says the gypsy heart

Si Tu Me Quieres / If You Love Me (feat. Gian Marco)
Lyrics & music: Alex Cuba

Give me more of you, don’t be afraid/Today I’m going to steal your heart
Live the moment that awaits you/May time approve your decision

Thinking of your love takes me far/It makes me better than I was
You seduce me so much with your body/That I can’t let you go

If you love me, my love if you love me/This whole world will be yours
I promise you affection beyond compare/May you be the happiest of women with me

If you love me, if you say you love me/What I feel will never end
I promise you because among all people/You are the beauty I always wanted to find

We will try without despair/I know the blessing will come
Give it time, I’ll wait/I’ll be the first, your great love

If you love me, my love if you love me/This whole world will be yours
I promise you a affection beyond compare/May you be the happiest of women with me

If you love me, if you say you love me/What I feel will never end
I promisee you because among all people/You are the beauty that I always wanted to find

Amor en la Distancia / Love in the Distance
Lyrics & music: Alex Cuba, Fonseca

I’m getting used to it/And I don’t know why
To what can be/How strange your soul

I’ve seen the sunset/Sticking to my skin
Without being able to have you/And I lose my cool

I’m going to recover my faith/If that’s what I must do
I’ll do everything for you/Because I need you

It’s not easy by a long shot to love
It’s not easy to sustain/Life and balance
And wait for me, there I go, I go
To rescue your calm/So there will be no more pain
There will be no more pain/There will be only hope
And though the world has changed/The world has changed
Nothing changed in me/You were my religion
You were my salvation/Love in the distance

Today I woke up eagerly/Last night I dreamed
That I could have you/And that you had wings

I tried to tie myself to your feet/How does one know how to love?
I didn’t know what to do/I ran and I walked.

I’m going to recover my faith/If that’s what I must do
I’ll do everything for you/Because I need you

It’s not easy by a long shot to love
It’s not easy to sustain/Life and balance