Modern Tango World #5 (Mexico)

Our challenge was to take a step back, returning
a bit to tradition with pop-rock music influences,
while taking a step forward doing so, for we were
creating something new. First idea was to create
an album with various singers from the pop and
rock scenes, with no Argentine accent on their
voice, to deepen the musical fusion even further.
We called on a lot of famous singers. One of them
was Catherine Ringer. As a matter of fact, Plaza
Francia and our debut album A New Tango Song
Book turned out to be the result of tango meeting
pop-rock and of us meeting Catherine. We soon
realized that her voice was the one we were looking
for, and started to write music and lyrics for
her peculiar vocal style. All went out very naturally,
without applying any particular business strategy.
MTW: How does Plaza Francia differ from Gotan
Project?
Eduardo: While Gotan Project did involve singing,
we were mostly influenced by electronic music,
which is primarily instrumental in nature. Vocal
parts and lyrics are the fundamental difference
in Plaza Francia compositions, which are much
more close to pop-rock than to electronica. Furthermore,
while we do develop our compositions
via electronic production, the instrumental parts in
Plaza Francia songs were all played by actual musicians
in studio.
The overall result has a very acoustic feel to it,
closer to tradition than all Gotan Project productions.
In live performances we let ourselves more
electronic manipulation freedom, mostly because it
would be pretty difficult to always have all the musicians
that played with us for the album on stage.
MTW: What are the most typical contents of
your lyrics?
Eduardo: Each songs tells a story of its own, but
the most peculiar point is that all is always seen
from a woman’s point of view. For example, the
first single of the album, La mano encima, is about
a woman victim of violence by her man. She loves
him but, rightfully loving herself much more, takes
the painful decision to leave him. In the song’s video,
this story is told by tango dancing. Secreto tells
about a secret which, being so, is never revealed in
the song. All is left to the listener’s interpretation.
Reading the lyrics, for example, such secret could
be as well an hidden homosexuality. La Misión is a
very personal song of mine, talking about my mission
of bringing tango into today’s world. Cada Vez
is about a mature woman who feels a return to
youth by the power of a new-born love. Generally
speaking, contents combine contemporary matters
with traditional tango inspiration: love in all its forms,
betrayal, travelling, nostalgia for home.
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