Usbeck, Maria - Envejeciendo - New LP

"Take “Un Cabello Gris” for instance, where Usbeck conjures one of the most visible signs of aging – our changing hair color. On first listen, she seems to poke fun at our shallow preoccupations with fading youth, yet a sense of foreboding emanates from her gauzy vocals as she describes hair turning grey, brittle and eventually falling out. The duality of humor and unavoidable reality is a recurring theme throughout Envejeciendo, most clearly heard on disquieting musical daydream, “Retirement Home.” Unfolding like family day at the senior center, Usbeck takes on the persona of a granny guiding the listener through the joys of living by the sea and fabulous in-house recreational facilities. Later references to dentures, pool aerobics and spacey ignorance of whether her family has come to visit illustrate the unforgiving wear of time, as well as the loneliness senior citizens often experience while living in retirement communities.

"Usbeck’s use of humor should not be interpreted as flippant, but as a coping mechanism to assuage our fear of incrementally decaying physical and mental faculties. On “Secret in Japan,” she searches for the magic elixir granting people longer, healthier lifespans. At first she posits the answer might be found in balanced eating or clean air, eventually conceding she simply doesn’t know.

"Much of the album’s emotional heart is rooted in Usbeck’s relationship with her late grandmother, splicing clips of recorded conversations into standout tracks “Obscuro Obituario” and “Amor Anciano.” The songs explore distant memories of love and companionship, romances that never were, and how destiny can separate soul mates just as easily as it can reunite them. Doubt, regret and nostalgia are also part of the aging process, lest we forget." - Richard Villegas