Alosa: "We reclaim Barcelona from a positive and folkloric perspective."

Barcelona"We love traditional and popular Catalan songs," said Alondra at the album's premiere. The first song of the morning (Cerámicas Guzmán, 2025) at the Mediterranean Fair in Manresa. "And we love it when you sing them," he added. Alondra is Irene Romo and Giulietta Vidal, both born in Barcelona, ​​one in 2000 and the other in 2001. They share a project that combines traditional songbooks and sounds, such as The Lady of Aragon and Basket weaving ladybug, which in turn inspire a current songbook and sound. It all started a couple of years ago with the song On the edge of fire, which spread from Instagram. They then released the EP Oh lai the elm (2024), and now, on October 25, they present the new album in room 2 of L'Auditori with sold-out tickets (almost 600), and with a quartet format completed by bassist Xavi Pérez and guitarist Martí Escobedo.

How did you live? the concert at the Mediterranean Fair in Manresa?

— Irene Romo: With a lot of nerves, but also with a lot of excitement, because we could finally premiere a live performance whose songs we had been working on for a long time.

Manresa is a good environment to present a project like yours, isn't it?

— Giulietta Vidal: A lot. We went last year, won the Sons Award, and they've helped us a lot with the project. We're very grateful.

How did you meet? Studying in a musical environment?

— GO: Student at the Music Workshop.

And how did you decide to do a project together?

— GO: We wanted to dedicate ourselves to music, and we decided that the best way was to enter a competition, which we didn't win and nothing happened. Then we did On the edge of fire, which has already circulated on social media. We saw that we could create a music group, and we liked the idea of it being about traditional music, or about this research into traditional music.

What is it about Catalan folk songs that appeals to you?

— GV: These are songs that have endured for many years and continue to connect with people because they talk about things that concern us right now, but in a different context.

What you explain is noticeable when you sing in concerts Under the elm and then The baker: That is, first you make a traditional song and then a composition of your own that tells the story from another point of view, that of the woman.

— GV: Exactly. A traditional material, Under the elm, inspires another song, The baker, which is similar in sound, but explains things differently. And especially with different vocabulary, like when the protagonist says her husband is boring, something that wouldn't be said in the traditional context.

At this year's Mediterranean Fair, several concerts addressed the theme of unmarried women. For example, at Cocanha's concert, and also at Magalí Sare's, in which you, Irene, participated playing the cello.

— GO: Yes, and there are still forced marriages.

How do you decide the sound of the songs? Your sound doesn't have as much electronic influence as it does with Tarta Relena, nor does it have as much polyphony, although you do play a bit of vocal interplay. You play the square tambourine, but you're not a traditional band either, as you have a more indie...How did you find this sound?

— GV: It was very natural. Irene studied cello, I studied singing, and we both like to sing; therefore, we sing in voices. We both like percussion; therefore, we play percussion... The beauty of Alondra is that we do what we want. Sometimes people tell us: "This isn't traditionally done like this, and what you're doing is such and such." Understood, but we bring it to our home. Alondra's sound is defined by what we play and by what we feel like and what each song asks for, because there are songs that we do add the cello, others a cappella, some that do have percussion, others that don't. We decide based on what each song requires.

And the theme. For example, rumba City girls He is the way he is because he talks about what he talks about.

— GO: Exactly. And we also use collaborations to distance ourselves from something and explore other things. It's a lot of fun not to be tied to anything.

What is the story of City girls.

— GV:City girls It talks about our childhood in Barcelona. We are literally city girls because we grew up and we love it. We are big defenders of Barcelona, ​​although it obviously has its flaws and we are against many things. The song is a way to vindicate it from a positive and folkloric point of view. We make folklore also present in the city, let's do a rumba, let's do something that can be sung, that has some tralarais, but taken to the city, therefore, some lololos... Let it be something folkloric, but from Barcelona. We're very happy with how it turned out, and also with Habla de Mí en Presente, who gave it their techno-rumba touch.

And how he manages to tie the verses of The almond tree by Joan Maragall in the song If the river?

— GO: We were writing a song denouncing the mistreatment of nature. We were coming up with a very fatalistic and hopeless song, also because of the whole Dana incident in Valencia. It made us feel very sad, feeling like we were the only ones responsible, and we wanted to hold the governments and people in power accountable. As I was saying, the song was coming out very fatalistic, and it couldn't be because we have hope. So we started looking for poems that spoke about nature, and we found one by Joan Maragall.

— GV: And the song ends in a hopeful way.

Of the music you listened to when you were a teenager, which do you think is reflected in what you do now?

— GV: I learned a lot about singing by copying Judit Neddermann's way of creating melodies. And she also really likes Coetus. I think there's something of Judit's that I must have unwittingly brought into the equation.

— GO: Classical music for me, because classical music was my adolescence.

It is interesting that, as a cellist, you avoid clichés when performing. The song of the birds.

— GO: That a cellist does not play the cello when we do The song of the birds It's a statement of intent, yes. It's a classical musical instrument, and using it in a modern way is a departure, like saying, "Now we won't give you what's coming to you."

What is your best memory related to music?

— GO: One of my favorite memories is playing in an orchestra when I was a teenager. What I love most about music is sharing it, and I really enjoyed hearing the violins do something specific and the harmonies were beautifully drawn. I remember a Grieg piano concerto in which I felt very connected to the music. I felt a very strong force. And that's also true of Alondra: what I love most about Alondra is sharing it with Giulietta and the people we play with.

— GV: The first thing I thought of was when I was driving in the car and singing songs while looking out the window. I decided quite late that I wanted to pursue music, but I think I knew it deep down. I sang them and knew them all. I have two older brothers, and they were always amazed because I knew the lyrics by heart.

Did you sing the songs your brothers played?

— GV: Yes, I sang El Canto del Loco, Pereza, whatever my brothers played, and I knew the songs, though I didn't even know what they were about in many of them. It's a fond memory I have.

And not so nice memories?

— GO: One of the things I don't like about music is the frustration it can sometimes cause, because it's really like a gym. I mean, you have to be playing almost every day to keep up your training. I've had to learn to manage frustration when I see I'm not capable of doing something. I've had to accept that if I don't know how to do it now, maybe I'll know how to do it another time.

— GV: When I was 13, at music school, I was told to see a speech therapist because I was constantly hoarse. They ran some tests and, indeed, I had an injury. They told me I couldn't sing for three months. It was really terrible. I started crying, and my mom thought, "This girl is going to faint."

— GO: And you did it, three months without singing?

— GV: Yes. I couldn't even sing at home. It was horrible. Luckily, it was only three months, but three months is a long time when you're little.

His manager is Martí Maymó, the bassist for the band Manel. And the album is being released by Cerámicas Guzmán, Manel's record label. How did it come about?

— GV: I was backing vocals for Guillem Gisbert with Emma Roca. I met Martí [who also manages Gisbert]. I saw how he worked and told Irene, "Let's talk to Martí because he'll help us." Then a lot of people were offering us contracts and jobs, and we were very lost.

— GO: But it was just to ask for advice.

— GV: We wanted advice from someone who was honest. And besides telling us the truth, which was very good of him, we connected very well. Our intuition told us it was the right decision, and so we said yes.

What comes to mind when you think of a lark?

— GV: The bird, because we've seen it so many times. When we chose the name, it was like, "Let's see what it looks like." And when we saw it, we said, "Oh, yeah, it's cute."

Did you choose the name before knowing what the bird looked like?

— GO: Yes, we didn't know what bird it was. We had sung together Skylark, a jazz standard, and skylark in Catalan it is lark.

— GV: It's a free bird that sings a lot. It has a ton of syllables: more than 700!

— GO: And it has a crest, which we love.