Los Ángeles from al andar by Holly Holden
This song is the story of a day spent at one of my favorite places in the world - Los Ángeles - a beautiful beach to the north of Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, which I first visited in 2016. After months of solo traveling, going wherever musical connections led me, getting sick, getting lost inside my own head, I found myself sitting on the sand at sunset, surrounded by a pink sky, the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance and a deep sense of inner peace. Since that pivotal moment, I have made a pilgrimage to Los Ángeles every time I have visited Colombia, and each time I heave learnt something new and something necessary - about myself, about patience, about acceptance, about creativity, about connection.
This song started as a poem, which I wrote in Los Angeles in 2018, when Johnny Flynn and I were taken to Colombia by the BBC radio programme ‘Sound Odyssey’, to collaborate with the great accordion player Carmelo Torres. On that trip, I was immersed in the rich cumbia and vallenato sound world, and that is reflected in the feeling and instrumentation of this song.
I am delighted that this song features the incredible Venezuelan musican Luzmira Zerpa (Family Atlantica) - a great friend and inspiration to me, from who I am learning to play the cuatro and to understand the power of song in community. The accordion is played by Nando Arias - a Londoner of Colombian heritage and child prodigy, who studied under Egidio Cuadrado in Colombia, thanks to the BBC World Routes Academy.
Tracklist
| 3. | Los Ángeles | 4:19 |
Lyrics
Estaba seca la quebrada de Valencia cuando me fui a refrescar
Hace rato que no llueve en las montañas de la Sierra Nevada
Soy pasajera del obrero Jose Luis que no quiso que caminara
Y Pueblo Nuevo de regreso donde el tiene alguna cosa pa comprar
Y dice - ‘pronto vamos a llegar
Al paraíso al lado el mar Los Ángeles’
Atormentado el cielo estaba to’ la tarde tantas ganas de llover
Todo gris azul morado con distantes truenos acercándose
Y por fin cuando cae el agua ya entiendo que es una bendición
Y escampa justo a tiempo la tormenta para darle paso al sol
Y agradesco volver a estar
En el paraíso al lado el mar Los Ángeles
Ay si que bueno volver a estar
Donde se oyen al cantar los ángeles
Estaba seca la quebrada de Valencia cuando me fui a refrescar
Hace rato que no llueve en las montañas de la Sierra Nevada
Soy pasajera del obrero Jose Luis que no quiso que caminara
Y Pueblo Nuevo de regreso donde el tiene alguna cosa pa comprar
Y dice - ‘pronto vamos a llegar
Donde se oyen al cantar los àngeles’
Credits
Holly Holden - Voice, BVs, Cuatro, Palos
Luzmira Zerpa - Voice, BVs
Nando Arias - Acordeon
Greg Sanders - Electric Guitar, Nylon string guitar, Bass, Cavaquinho, Palos
Ernesto Marichales - Percussion (Bombo legüero, Maracas, Guacharaca, Palos).
All songs recorded 2022 - 2024 at Ball In A Studios, London.
All songs written by Holly Holden.
All songs produced, arranged and mixed by Greg Sanders
All songs mastered by Luis Bonilla, High Grade Mastering
License
All rights reserved.
Holly Holden is a singer, songwriter and bassist from London with a tropical soul. A long-term love affair with Latin America and many years spent music-making in the region have shaped her unique sunny, Spanglish soul-pop sound.