Jimena Amarillo has become one of the most listened to Spanish singer-songwriters of the moment. The young woman is a reference on the Spanish pop scene thanks to great songs like Cafeliko oh It doesn’t even show up. In 2021 Jimena released her first studio album, Cómo decirte, mi amor, an album full of great songs where she clearly expressed her sensitivity when it comes to composing.
Today, two years later, the artist releases his new album: grief is not comfortable. An album where she reinforces the concept of new generation singer-songwriter. And that’s because she’s like Juan Palomo, she cooks it, she eats it. AND is that the artist composed, produced and engineered the entire album. A renaissance woman!
To talk about this new album, Jimena gives us an interview. His spontaneity and sense of humor make conversation relaxed and, above all, fun.
Question (Q): Grieving is not comfortable It’s your second studio album, do you have the same nerves as on the first?
Jimena: Well, not at the moment. People ask me, but I was more nervous with the first one. And in that I am not. Maybe it’s because I produced it myself and don’t lack confidence when it comes to presenting it.
Q: The first came in 2021, very close to this lockdown, I guess the celebration will be different.
Jimena: Well, I didn’t think of that. It’s just that I have so much going on this week that I’m crazy alive. But I guess a big party and a blind ciborium. Above, now that I’m a modern Madrilenian, well, we’re going out here. I want something fancy.
Q: One of the first singles from this new album, Because You Would Know It, has a more rock sound, would you like to experiment with this genre?
Jimena: Total. It’s that I want to cover everything. I am a girl who covers everything. So I said, well, I’ll start with a stone. It’s super predictable, but I’ll do it. Then later the record would come out and people would think “girl, I thought you were going to rock”. And no, it’s not. I like to play with myself.
Q: We also see loops and new things in Billete de amor so you don’t want to see me, how has your sound evolved since Como decirte, mi amor? It sounds less acoustic and more produced.
Jimena: It’s true that when it comes to producing the songs absolutely nothing has changed. Less Maria the Portuguese, which I invented, is just a loop of a chord. It’s just that I always do it that way. I loop, but this time I inserted a lot more instruments.
Q: I get a lot of people on TikTok experimenting with loops
Jimena: Total is what it takes now.
Q: It’s true that at a time when you open the credits of a song and two hundred names appear, I was surprised that there was only yours in your songs.
Jimena: What a burden! It’s just that I think about having a production meeting with people and I go crazy. I wouldn’t know how to talk to them, how to tell them that I don’t like things. I’m a super weird person. I do the super me songs all the time. But one of the goals I have now is to start doing things with people because, baby, you can’t be alone all the time.
One of the goals is to start doing things with people
Q: Start with Amaia, whose comments I saw on your posts…
Jimena: Oh, how we love to scratch little things! We’ll see, we’ll see. I’m just saying that if Jimena Amarillo releases a collaboration, it’s to leave no one indifferent. I haven’t even done it or anything, but if I do a collab, it’ll be up to you to say “what the hell is he doing collab with that one”.
P: grief is not comfortable is the title of the album and one of the songs. It seems quite a statement of intent. Do you still lack empathy with sad people?
Jimena: No, what’s up? The title is given because I was tired of people posting on Instagram or Twitter that they put my songs to cry. One day I grumbled and said “baby wake up, a little happiness” that grief is not comfortable. And I found that funny.
I was sick of people posting on Instagram that they put my songs to cry
Q: Coffee is reappearing in Tiles, after Cafeliko, one of your biggest hits.
Jimena: You see, I can’t take it anymore.
Q: what do you say?
Jimena: Come on, no. Now we have changed it more live. Now I play cool and play live. But I notice that this song is super far from what I do. But I love it, it’s my essence.
Q: But how many coffees do you drink per day?
Jimena: When I arrived in Madrid, I had a nervous breakdown. So for three months I take two a day. But before, I took five a day. You have to control these things.
Q: We need to talk about your lyrics. You talk a lot about love and heartache, from which point of view is it easier to write?
Jimena: Well, my first record was written at a time when I was having a terrible time. This was written during a stage where it was fine. I thought it was because of heartbreak, but realized it wasn’t. I can not give you an answer.
Q: Speaking of songs, who is Lucía, the person who names the interlude on the album?
Jimena: My ex-girlfriend. Already my ex-girlfriend. It’s happened to me twice, man. That I take out the record when I left it with my partner. Go figure. I am terrified. It can’t go on like this. I have decided to quit my lesbianism because it is not possible. But yes, Lucía is my ex-partner. There are also songs for others.
It’s already happened to me twice that when I release the album I leave it to my partner
Q: Is there an interlude to separate two different parts of the album?
Jimena: No, I did the interlude to play cool. I’ve seen it on the most professional records. If it’s not even me singing, if Lucía sings.
Q: Speaking of songs, why cover María La Portuguesa?
Jimena: Because I started making versions. I wanted to keep the essence of how I started. Well, that’s a lie, I really did it for Silvia Pérez Cruz to listen to.
Q: And did you hear it?
Jimena: What are we going to listen to!
P: Cafeliko there And it was noted These are two songs that marked your career, how did you realize that they worked?
Jimena: And it was noted This is the one the label called me with. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they put him in a top 50 in Spain. I didn’t even know what Spotify charts were. People started following me and I kept doing my thing. Cafeliko It was the pretty pop that people needed. I have very good memories.
Q: At a time when everything is being consumed so quickly by platforms like TikTok, have you ever thought of writing a song to rock it on this site?
Jimena: Certainly not. I tell you that I will not do it in my life. It gives me anxiety. They actually tell me to upload TikToks for my album. My answer is that it is a platform that I have never used. I’m not going to force myself. I make my music for something else. He wouldn’t come out.
Q: And finally, what awaits you this year after the release of the album?
Jimena: Well, I don’t know. I have no idea or want to. I have always lived without knowing what awaited me. I know that I’m going to play a lot and that in less than a fortnight I’m going to Bogota to present this album. I think that sounds crazy to me. I want to go on living without expecting anything.