"I want to speak in a language that no one has ever heard before," is what was said on the latest album by composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Mercedes Peón. The ways to highlight and contradict the Galician musical tradition have been explored by one of the most prominent artists of her region for several decades. In that time, she has managed to create her own manuscript that has been sometimes more other times less comprehensible to listeners and music professionals alike. In 2022, she launched the Ingravida project, which has the potential to speak to the widest audience yet - not only to their ears, but especially to their hearts.
"When I was thirteen, I heard old women singing in a village on the Costa da Morte (Coast of Death). I was amazed. They exuded something indescribably magical. I've had a tape recorder with me ever since. I filmed everywhere: in small villages, on the coast, in cities..." This magic of an unmistakable cultural tradition has been carried over into her work, which is sometimes based on panderetas - shrill singers with tambourines, sometimes on progressive synths more familiar from experimental electronic music. The moment when he incorporates masterful bagpipe playing into the songs is literally an ecstatic moment.
Read moreWe had the opportunity to see Ingrávido perform in November 2023 at the Galician Showcase Festival in Santiago de Compostela. A private concert in a theatre for a couple of dozen delegates, we were absolutely amazed by its immediacy. Mercedes Peón came on with a natural aura of unquestioned authority, but during the very second song she invited a young singer on stage, whom she let completely shine. Three other female singers, a cellist and an accordion player then took the stage. Over the course of the hour-long concert, the roles on stage were completely transformed: from the initial constellation of Mercedes as a school class teacher, her students gradually reach the same level until they merge into one powerful musical ensemble, where it is not about the performance of an individual, but a multi-layered mass of sound that engulfs the entire space in the hall. All this with tasteful live video projection and endless smiles - because this line-up is having an incredible time together. And that's exactly how they will perform at Colours of Ostrava 2024.