Singer Diana Fuentes has been absent from the Cuban stage for some time, but nevertheless her music continues to be in the soundtracks daily listened to by many of her followers.
During this period of absence the artist has proven her talent as an actress in the Ecuadorian-Cuban film Criaturas abandonadas, and has also been involved in the organization of a new music production.
What last February was still an incipient project today is a reality.
“I am finishing the album, which has taken a year to be produced. We have been quite meticulous, perfectionists, since Eduardo has a very tight agenda. But instead of going to the movies, going out or to parties, we remain at home, working. It has been most interesting. The album will be called Planeta planetario (Planetary Planet).”
The new CD Planeta planetario, according to the artist, reflects the vital period she is going through right now.
“I am sharing my life and my time between two islands. Two islands that are very much alike, because the people are similar and I love to be surrounded by water. I think I could never remain in the same place for more than 20 days without seeing the sea, or at least smelling it. I think I would become claustrophobic. I like very much the fact that I feel Cuba a lot in Puerto Rico. Then, why Planeta planetario? Because in spite of all this, which is so wonderful, there is also the fact that I was away from here for some time, away from my parents, from my family, from my country; also away to some extent from my music. I have realized that it doesn’t matter where you are if you have yourself, if your things are strongly rooted in you.”
In her new recording, Diana Fuentes returns to some of the themes she has handled throughout her career, and at the same time pays attention to elements of the identity of Cuban and Latin American cultures to incorporate them to her way of expressing and understanding music.
“I speak of love, because to me, love moves everything. There is also a satire about gossipers, about evil tongues, and I say it this way: ‘What do I hear? A burst of intruders who crawl underneath”, as if it were very poetic; but in the end, what I’m saying is: ‘Pal, mind your own business’. The album also handles the power of women, our power. I think it is an issue that is becoming stronger here and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to do it. I speak of how far we can go in all aspects, of going ahead without fear.”
The presentation of the album Planeta planetario will mark the return to the Cuban scene of the artist, who recently participated in the show Up into the Silence, directed by British composer Sue Herrod.
We want to organize a series of concerts, because I have never made a national tour. I have never performed outside Havana, except in Matanzas. The record should be released in September-October; we will first bring out a single with a video film, and hope it may rotate among the Island’s radio stations. Then we will organize this national tour that should start early next year.
In this new proposal, Diana Fuentes returns to themes and genres she had previously broached along her career, and at the same time she penetrates a new sound universe accompanying her glance of other aspects of reality. About the reception by the public used to listening to her, she says:
“With all modesty, I think they will love it. I love it. We have tested it with my family, which to me is the best public, the most critical one I have.”
Author
Laura Paz
