SILVANA ESTRADA

Marchita in Spanish means withered; the fading away of something, once seen as perfect, that shrinks and dries until it crumbles to dust. She emerged from what for her was a process of “poetic revolution” with a clearer idea of her musical identity, rooted in the legacy of great Latin American women like Chavela Vargas, Violeta Parra or Soledad Bravo. Left behind was the influence of what she calls “masculine prisms” or manipulated sounds. Silvana actually scrapped an earlier version of the album, along with its producer, in favor of recording music made with “purely things that I can control:” The chords of her Venezuelan cuatro or other small Latin American guitars; a string quartet, spare percussion, piano, a lone saxophone. And primarily, her own voice, sometimes amplified in chorus. At 24, Silvana has already been hailed as “one of Mexico’s greatest young talents and vocalists” by KCRW’s José Galvan. She has performed and recorded with artists including Natalia Lafourcade, who like Silvana, belongs to a vibrant community of indie artists in Mexico City; Uruguayan singer/songwriter Jorge Drexler, Chile’s Mon Laferte and Spanish group Love of Lesbian.