Lola goes out partying again with Pastora

BarcelonaAt Can Pastora there is no rush. "After the pandemic we said let's get together for a coffee to talk about making a record," recalls Caïm Riba (Formentera, 1974). "And a year went by before we met up," says Dolo Beltrán (Sant Boi de Llobregat, 1974), who at the time was performing Bonus track at Teatre Lliure. The intention was to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the release of the album Pastora. And it ended up celebrating "25 years". "We can also say we are celebrating Lola's anniversary," adds Riba, referring to the song that catapulted the group to success and with a verse from which they are now playing to title the album 25 años buscando follón (Halley Records, 2026), which they will present this Friday, April 10th, at the Auditori de Girona as part of the Strenes festival program. "That album changed our lives," admits Beltrán.The new album brings together a dozen songs from Pastora's career, but it is not a conventional compilation. Each song features a special guest: Santi Balmes, Pedro Guerra, Macaco, Roger Padrós, María Peláe, Sommeliers, Delafé & las Flores Azules, Marc Parrot, Ladilla Rusa, and Marina Rossell. Too much time had passed since the previous album, Una altra galàxia

(2012), the only one they made in Catalan, and they had to think about how they wanted to present themselves. "A compilation was a good way to remind people who we are, and it lets people who don't know us understand what we're about," says Riba. They were also working on new compositions, and in any case, they saw the possibility of updating the sound of the songs. Then they considered collaborations and started making calls. "The first recording we did was "}Lunes,, with Pedro Guerra, in 2024. The other day I called him to tell him the album was coming out and he didn't remember!" explains Beltrán. The process, therefore, has been calm, stress-free. They had a more or less clear idea of who should sing what, but no one wanted to do Lola. "I guess everyone was a bit intimidated," ventures Riba. Finally, María Peláe agreed, and it's true that the song suits her perfectly.

Some collaborations are explained by generational connection and friendship, such as those of Santi Balmes, Macaco and Delafé & las Flores Azules. "The original idea was for it to be a party for our generation, then you think about colleagues and you open the door to people you've met at work, like Víctor Clares from Ladilla Rusa or Roger Padrós. In any case, people who pick up the phone and say yes without having to go through managers and record labels," says Beltrán. For example, with Helena Miquel, from Delafé & las Flores Azules, they are very good friends: "We even have a WhatsApp group of Catalan singers. We're all in it. We call ourselves Bruixes Mamones," she reports.

In some cases, the studio experience has been particularly rewarding. "With Marina Rossell it was a great day. We threw her off balance, we made her sing in Spanish and in a super electronic song. And she really got into it," celebrates Beltrán. And it is that Caïm Riba has taken the opportunity to rework some songs and "update them", but "keeping their essence, so that people who knew the songs recognize them". The Pastora who bring back Riba and Beltrán are quite representative of the group's history. The album includes five tracks from the album Pastora; two from La vida moderna (2025), two from Circuitos de lujo (2008) and one from Una altra galàxia (2012). "The selection has to do with the importance the songs had, and we also wanted one to be in Catalan, and we chose the most danceable one thinking about live performances," says Riba.

Taking Lola out for a walk 25 years later has been a pleasant process for Caïm Riba after the death of his father, Pau Riba. "Sharing the work with Dolo helps me to release pressure, and not being stressed is helping me a lot," explains Caïm Riba, who while "25 años buscando follón

" was being created, he released the album the album El racó dels pensaments (2023) and has developed a social project with SGAE.