Enrique Bunbury (Zaragoza, 1967) returns with a new and (highly) anticipated studio work: Greta Garbo (Warner, 2023). The title of the album is no coincidence as it is directly related to the recent events that Bunbury has carried out regarding him. farewell to the stage that he announced a year ago because of his throat problems. “I wrote the songs for the new album at that time and in the following months. Some expressed their anger and discontent with the situation. Others looked to a ray of hope, seeing my final exit in creation. In many of the songs in the album, there is a mixture of uneasiness and enthusiasm in the face of what we can call Greta Garbo syndrome. The famous Swedish actress has decided to leave the film scene at the age of 36, which is at the peak of her career, Enrique said before the release of this new album recorded at El Desierto Casa Estudio (Mexico). A few days after the release of this twelfth studio work, Bunbury answers questions for EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA from the group Prensa Ibérica.
Q. I’m quoting Nicolas Cage About the movie ‘Next’: “This is the future. So, if you see it, it changes”. How do you see the future right now, including your own, even if it’s so bright that you have to wear your sunglasses while singing on ‘Back Home’?
This quote by R. Nicolas Cage is beautiful. I also believe that if you look to the future and project yourself onto it, you will change. As Charles Chaplin said, “Be careful what you wish for, it may not come true”. Somehow, we build the future based on desires and intentions. Obviously, it’s not that simple. Sometimes, even though it is stubborn to contradict the universe, you can straighten the rudder and head for a certain place. Anyway, I’m in a period where I make little plans. The tour concept was rejected, and so I don’t have to do those long-distance planning and think I’ll be performing in the next two years. Now I know it’s my turn to promote and the album will be released on May 26. I don’t have any plans after that. So I’m going to go to my studio to paint, write songs, tackle a new book. There is no rush, but there is no pause either. Living creatively every day. And we’re going on vacation to some exotic place.
S. “What used to be sacred to me / It is clear to me today that everything has passed. / I’m going home / I’m late / But / I’d rather not say goodbye like this”. It’s not the first time goodbyes are mentioned in the lyrics… leitmotiv now a decision
A. That’s true. But I have a long career behind me. My first album came out in ’87, so I had time to say goodbye to certain periods of my life. I went through different artistic periods with different musicians and managers. It is normal to close stages and open others. The new conditions are different. This is a change of focus. I’ve moved from a career in which tours are an important part, to one where I focus almost entirely on the creative part, which is basically the foundation of everything and what’s more, what I enjoy the most.
I think the word “resign” is not very appropriate to describe this record. It is an album where the sadness of not being able to realize an important part of my career is sheltered.”
Q. Is ‘Greta Garbo’ a surrender album?
R. I don’t think so. In my opinion, the word “resign” is not very appropriate to describe this album. It is an album that I hope the audience will follow me with the hope of finding myself in a new cycle that will surprise me with the sadness of not being able to carry out an important part of my career.
Q. There is hope… Take ‘Bumper Cars’ as an example. Said this song is the light through the crack Leonard Cohen?
r. crushing cars This is a disco favourite. One of the few social songs on an album that is mostly personal and introspective. But there is something of an external view and social criticism in this, and maybe a couple of things.
P. “Greta Garbo” has moments reminiscent of Calamaro from “Bohemio” and The Beatles (“Desaparecer”, “Autos de coche”), with that soulful rhythm (“Being Unforgettable”, “Alaska”… ) . Who did you think of musically during this album process?
R. What a great comparison! andrew [Calamaro] He is one of the greatest Spanish music writers of the last forty years. There are others that fascinate me, but Andrés is there. top five, undoubtedly. It is a privilege to collide with his talent in space-time, and an honor to have him as my dear friend. And The Beatles are the foundation of everything. I had a childhood listening to his albums, probably between the ages of 8-12. As for the spirit of the seventies, which had a great influence on this album, I think it’s mainly Al Green; This is something that is already starting to emerge Harbor EP 2021. I would also add new wave New York in the late 1970s and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars related to [David] Bowie. This new album has main influences and references.
Q. In addition to the ten cuts on the album, there is an extra: “You’re not the same anymore”. Out of the ‘Greta Garbo’ process? What makes it so different from the rest of the repertoire?
A. We recorded eleven songs and one had to quit the recording because it didn’t fit on the record. It cannot be said that it is very different from the rest of the album, but it seemed to me like a song that deserves a special place, a unique place.
The musicians led by S. Adanowsky are no longer the Los Santos Inocentes you’ve been with since ‘Hellville de Luxe’. Did the new songs, in your understanding, require other voices and therefore another band?
R. This was clear from the very beginning. I didn’t want to do the new album again. Probably won’t do it again. I have spent many years producing myself and would like to hear other ideas to help me reach new conclusions. Adam [Jodorowsky] bass played and called Raoul [Chichín] and Victor [Mechanick], young, good and talented Parisian musicians. Music runs through his veins. Bernie was on the drums [Bernardo Rodríguez] He has a wonderful and delicate touch. The idea was to refresh the sound, to find myself in a different context, and I think it was good to have different musicians to record this album. My idea is to record the next one with other musicians and a different producer.
Q. You also changed ‘management’. Was the change complete or not?
R. It was a coincidence that the moment of crisis prompted me to make some changes. A new approach to my career where I needed a different vision and to achieve new results.
The tours are a tremendous effort. And I mean tours where you leave home for extended periods of time, not the weekends you go out to play in Salamanca or Teruel. It’s a very difficult job”
P. Sinead O’Connor said he was “tired of the routine of the world market”. music” and that he does not like to sing out of necessity: “If you record an album and go on tour, you have no choice but to be in a certain mood every night. It’s a really big effort.” This?
A. It is. The tours are a tremendous effort. And I mean tours where you leave home for extended periods of time, not the weekends you go out to play in Salamanca or Teruel. This is a very difficult job. I don’t want to compare it to working in a mine because I’ve never worked in a job like this before. But it’s not easy physically or emotionally.
Q. What needs to change for Bunbury to return to the stage?
R. I don’t plan to go back to tours right now. I will give certain concerts in certain cities. Very little shows, has been selected and wants to return home to do something worthwhile and continue my work. That is, compose, write and paint. And take care of my family. These are the priorities.