Interview to Second Sealthe poetess who came out of the Galician sea, in ROMPE Festival EN by Amazon Music to celebrate emerging Spanish artists
Look at me now, warrior on a cliff
Free man, banished.
Venus is represented coming out of the sea foam, modest and contemplative. Second Seal I would represent it differently. The first thing that catches your attention is her voice, because listening to her talk about until y music It’s like listening to a much older person speak. She hasn’t turned thirty and his voice has gravity. Surely it is one of those souls that lead lives growing, inhabiting various bodies. And that is a great advantage that his lyrics reflect. Sila writes lyrics that are necessary in a musical landscape that is sometimes repetitive, too impersonal or not very brave,
The wind moves the tides
A ship out in the open, a chimera
I am true and I am a lie, a game that you do not master,
sings on the title track of his brand new debut album.
The story of her grandfather, a sailor who lost his life in a shipwreck off the coast of Morocco decades ago, inspired her to embark on her own flight. That is the first reason why the themes of his debut album break (Altafonte, 2022) refer us to the sea, or to travel. This album was undoubtedly one of the great surprises that the new music scene left us last year. Gallega -and it shows in her marine metaphors- this warrior next to the cliff sculpts some very thoughtful, cool and intellectual lyrics, all at the same time. Good daughter of her father, on the shore when she wakes up, the waves are what she hears at night when she rests.
Con presence, voice, seguraand very polished soundy very sharp messages The very young granddaughter of the captain gives us a debut album that, after what has been seen in her live shows, she will defend tooth and nail in 2023 like any self-respecting witch. Sila performed in the Break It Festival and it did not disappoint. And before her performance, she gave us a few minutes for this interview, between sound checks, cables and lights. A few frantic moments in which it seemed that the sea roared around the corner.
Photo: Ariel Garcia Photography
Danger:
Thanks for your time and your art, Sila.
Second Seal
Thank you
Acthung
Congratulations on your debut album. Let me start by highlighting the letters of break. It is appreciated because it really is a significant contribution. The production and sonic aspect are great, but the lyrics got me. you talk to us about things very personal that are also familiar, like the death of your grandfather, which is your own pain, but also that of your family. And then you tell us about that lysergic dilated-eye trip at night – and the requirements for whoever wants to marry you, an unorthodox statement. Where do you draw the limits when writing your lyrics?
They
Ha ha ha. I think that there are no limitsMy way of writing is always very intimate. In fact, let’s say that the concept of break, the concept of the sea is to find a more poetic way to tell my daily life, but in a way that is not, perhaps, so obvious. I think that Journey to the end of the night, for example, it is a song that you do not clearly understand what I am telling, however, it is a completely true story. In The Captain’s Daughter You understand the story too, but it’s not like you need to know if I don’t tell you. Are true stories poeticizedI like to use symbolism to cover everyday things with something more magical… like my life.
Danger
How did you find this way of expression?
They
Well, I started with the poetry. I think poetry has that metaphorical and symbolist touch. It is about looking for beautiful ways to tell very simple or common things. It has not been something conscious, but my way of writing has always been from that angle. I have always read a lot of poetry, I still do today. And it nourishes me.
Danger
In the promo for the festival breaks You confessed that making a concept album helped you focus, focus and start writing song by song, keeping its structure in mind from the beginning.
They
It helped me a lot to find a concept to focus, let’s say, my creativity. It’s like composing with the computer, with so many sounds, you know? It becomes difficult to choose which sound to use if you have so many options at your disposal. Many times it is better to have fewer tools or fewer outlets for creativity to really flow. For me, well, it did seem interesting to put it like this: think about the concept first, and then write lyrics, melodies and arrangements based on it. Create some frameworks on which to base myself so as not to get lost. And the concept were my life and the mar.
Photo: Ariel Garcia Photography
Danger
It really caught my attention because the generation you belong to and the way you consume music has broken the concept album paradigm. Twenty years ago the deconsecration of the album began, now everything is singles, EPs, singles, right? Enjoying a concept album from start to finish seems to take a lot of time. Do you have any concept album that you could recommend for those moments of refuge, contemplation or inspiration?
They
I think that there are many artists who make concept albums (in fact, they are the artists that I like the most), I think that it has returned in some way. There are many ways to make a concept album. It can be a concept that starts from the letter and that everything goes together, emerging from the narrative. It can also be a concept that starts from… I don’t know… from a sound, you know? From an image. Like, “I’m going to make an 80s album” and let that album be like that. There are many liberties for that; I think there are many artists who propose concepts that we are talking about. The pop concept album that comes to mind right now is Lemonade of Beyoncéwhich is also a piece of an album on many levels.
Danger
And besides, it’s afrofuturist.
Your album is not only very conceptual, but it is very Galician, or at least very much from the sea. You smell the sea, you have the warrior on the cliff, the waves, the shipwreck, the currents. Curiously, there are two direct references, metaphors that seem to refer to an object of desire: Saint Elmo’s fire, or that love that is going to burn me.
They
Actually, it is also something maritime because the Saint Elmo fire happened in the old ships; in the masts of the sails after the storm a kind of electrical games was created. The sailors either thought it was the end… or that they had survived the storm. There was a lot of myth around Saint Elmo’s fire. It is electricity, which is not opposed to the sea, but rather vive in it.
Danger
The energy of that electrical phenomenon. The perplexed fury when you look at me and don’t reflect yourself. The more you hold me, the stronger you push me away.
They
It looks like fire, like a blue fire. It happens on planes too, on pointy things too. However, it is a phenomenon that has a lot of myth in the maritime world.
Photo: Ariel Garcia Photography
Danger
It is a very well written letter, from my modest point of view. In the first five words that open your album, it seems that Luz Casal and other women are there, in your voice. Then you are the one who faces the journey alone.
They
I love that everyone tells me about Couple Light! Is very pretty. They tell me a lot, I find it funny, I know Luz, but I’ve never heard much of what he does. But come on, I like to be told; although in my house Casal was not heard much. Now I am going to go to a festival of his to play (El light festival) and I’m delighted.
Danger
So I think that those types of associations are made by us who listen and who write about music, because we want to make them. Thank you for clarifying this point because more than one song on your album could be sung by Luz Casal… or written by Rosalía de Castro.
They
If Hahaha. Although they say that in the voice there is something that resembles me.
Danger
Ha ha ha. Could it be from the sea?
They
And and and.
The associations, which are always free
Danger
But not unfair or clichés
They
And and and
Photo: Ariel Garcia Photography
Danger
Finally, your projection in a panorama in which you are growing a lot. Someone said that “the only way to be global is to be local”. In 20 years, where do you see yourself? What will you have contributed to music in Spain or Galicia?
They
Oh I do not know! Ha ha ha. Now I have a great opportunity, I’m on tour and I’m having the opportunity to travel around Spain presenting my album and living an incredible experience. I’m going to be on tour all summer, it’s my dream right now. In 20 years, which is a long time, I would like to have the opportunity to travel the world to share the music scene, that is what I would like the most. And what it contributes… well, I don’t know that. I hope it is my vision of life, music and artwhich is the only thing I have.
Danger
For those of us who appreciate the lyrics of a song, break it is addictive because your vision looks clear, even if it reaches the listener from the glass of poetry. Congratulations. May your vision shine and bite, bite, bite tonight.
They
Thank you.