Meme del Real has been part of the beloved Mexican rock band Café Tacvba for more than 30 years. This week, the 56-year-old singer released his debut solo record.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
It’s Friday, which means all kinds of new albums were released overnight and are now available to stream or buy, if you’re old school. We’re going to focus today, though, on a project that was released a couple of days ago on the final day of Hispanic Heritage Month. It is the debut album by Meme del Real from the band Cafe Tacvba, and it’s called “La Montana Encendida.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PRINCESA”)
MEME DEL REAL: (Singing in Spanish).
KELLY: Anamaria Sayre hosts our Alt.Latino podcast, and I gather you (laughter) – can I insert that you’re speaking to us from Mexico, where you just ran into Meme del Real?
ANAMARIA SAYRE, BYLINE: (Laughter) I did catch him walking his dog this morning.
KELLY: There you go. Celebs, musicians – they walk their dogs too. OK, we’re going to hear all about the new solo album, but start with the band that del Real grew up with and is launching from. This is Cafe Tacvba.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ERES”)
CAFE TACVBA: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: So what we’re hearing here is one of the most classic Cafe Tacvba songs called “Eres.” And it’s honestly really hard to define Cafe Tacvba just because of the magnitude of the impact that they had and continue to have in Mexico and in a lot of Latin America. You could call them a Mexican alternative rock pop band, but really what they were is pioneers in creating this really accessible and resonant kind of rock sound that had this incredible lyricism that really spoke to the hearts of a lot of Mexicans. They were coming kind of in this era of rock en espanol, and they really redefined the genre and what really Mexican music was at large.
KELLY: OK, so this new album, a debut album – unusual in and of itself because del Real is in his mid-50s. What took him so long to make this, “La Montana Encendida”?
SAYRE: You know, he actually says it never really occurred to him. I mean, he was still creating music after Tacvba, but it wasn’t something that he needed. He didn’t look for that spotlight, look for that solo moment. But he said that basically he worked on a music video, and he had this moment where he said he realized what main singer of Cafe Tacvba, Ruben Albarran, felt the whole time playing live, and he wanted to have that experience. He had all of these songs inside of him, and it just took the right moment to really bring them out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “TUMBOS”)
DEL REAL: (Singing in Spanish).
KELLY: Anamaria, as you listen to this album, tell me what strikes you. What are you hearing?
SAYRE: I mean, what you really hear is this blend of all these different Latin American genres – boleros, bossa nova, obviously (speaking Spanish).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “TUMBOS”)
DEL REAL: (Whistling).
SAYRE: It’s really this unique kind of thing that I think the world was only ready for, especially Latin America, was only ready for right now. He brought on a legendary – in his own right – institution, Gustavo Santaolalla. He’s an old composer, rockero from Argentina, was kind of similarly really instrumental in defining the music there. And so the two of them collaborating, I mean, they create this thing that feels like it belongs beyond even now, which is amazing for an artist who has been around for so long.
KELLY: That’s so interesting. Yeah, you do hear all the, like, traditional Latin sounds, but these songs feel very different. I don’t know if futuristic would be going too far, but something like that.
SAYRE: Definitely. And one of the really interesting things is that music from Mexico has been having a special moment in the past few years.
KELLY: OK.
SAYRE: This genre called corridos tumbados, which is basically a reimagined version of a hundred-year-old genre called corridos, has been breaking quite literally world records. This – in many ways, some of the songs on here, especially a song called “Embeces,” feels like kind of Meme’s response to all of this.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EMBECES”)
DEL REAL: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: It’s like he kind of sat with it the past few years, thought about it and came back with something. And what you hear in this music is him taking ancestry and not just bringing it into the present, but really reimagining it in this super nontraditional way that, like, none of the young guys are doing this. He does it in this really artistic and interesting way that feels like it belongs in whatever future we’re headed towards.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EMBECES”)
DEL REAL: (Singing in Spanish).
KELLY: Anamaria Sayre, host of the NPR music podcast Alt.Latino. I hear you have upcoming (ph) Tiny Desk as well.
SAYRE: So they say.
KELLY: Congrats on that. So they say.
SAYRE: You got to come up for one.
KELLY: I will look forward to it. We’ve been talking about Meme del Real’s new album. It’s called “La Montana Encendida,” and it’s out now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “EMBECES”)
DEL REAL: (Singing in Spanish).
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