She, María, likes the word path; he has always liked it. We were in Granada, after his concert in the Plaza de Toros, when he told me that his new job was going to be called that. I inevitably thought of Antonio Machado and his warning: “ Walker, your footprints are/ the path and nothing more;/ Walker, there is no path,/ the path is made by walking .” It is liberating in a way to throw off the chains of fate. Although, on the other hand, one becomes the absolute owner of the traces that one's own steps leave, with the responsibility that this entails. Camino is one of those big words that silently speaks about itself.

Some time after that meeting, I received ten songs in advance to be able to write this note; so I adjusted my headphones, clicked play and listened to each one of them. Non-stop, one after the other, from the first to the last. When I finished, still with the emotion held in my tear duct, I opened a new document on the computer and wrote:

The path is memory, the present and the future; everything that fits in the heart and that makes sense in every step. This new album by Niña Pastori is an x-ray of life.

GOOD DAY

It begins with this theme dedicated to Barcelona, ​​and the road takes us to the beloved places. A happy song for a city and an audience by which she always feels supported and very loved. Impossible not to think of “Cai”. In some magical way, songs that talk about a city, whatever it may be, transport you home.

I WAS BORN TO WIN

The greatest strength that one can feel emanates from fragility. Here is a song to strength from the vulnerable moments along the way. It starts with some verses by Juan Antonio Jiménez, "El Jero." Forceful, deep, painful. “I was born to win” is a very special bulería, with r&b arrangements.

OSU WHAT A GIRL

The lyrics say: “he tells me his secrets that are transparent.” I would say it is my favorite verse. There is no feeling purer than the happiness that invades us when listening to the laughter of those we love. The path is this love that stops at every detail because it knows that in each one there is a treasure.

I feel that Camino is a walk through life, an invitation to travel through the chosen places and the imposed places. Hand in hand with Chaboli in production and composition, Niña Pastori pushes from her universe that desire that sometimes falls asleep in the soul. Those that move us to rescue everything that makes the difference between living and being alive. Those that encourage us to savor the moment and stop in the brilliance of everyday life. That spirit reminds me of some verses by Benedetti known to everyone: “Do not remain motionless/ on the edge of the road/ do not freeze your joy/ do not want with reluctance/ do not save yourself now/ nor ever/ do not save yourself.” Nor does it take away from the harshness of the shadows. What hurts is also picked up and translated because it is part of the process and the journey. He does not give up the truth, but he also does not give up moving forward with that beat of optimism that permeates each project.

GREEN LIKE MINE

And loss is part of the journey. We are also for those who are no longer here, so that they continue to exist in each new memory. This pain is so well said and so beautifully told that it hits home and feels like it's your own. Only those who have lost someone know that forgetting does not exist.

AND SUDDENLY

What would the road be without our teachers... This theme of love/pain opens space to pay homage to great flamenco figures like Camarón or Paco de Lucía, and it does so through words and through sound. One of those necessary stops in the authentic, the pure. One of those stops to remember where we come from.

REGOLETA

Another piece of love on the road. A sauce that gets under your feet and lifts you out of your seat. A regoleta is something small, restless, like a tadpole that moves a lot. How important it is to point out all the beautiful things in the heart, to say what important people mean, and how beautiful to dance it too.

María tells me that Camino begins to take shape several months after the start of the pandemic. That when everything exploded, she had just published Really Volando , recorded live at the Teatro Real in Madrid in one of the concerts of her "Under Your Wings" tour. She did it surrounded by her band and professional colleagues such as Manuel Carrasco, India Martínez, Miguel Poveda, Pastora Soler, Antonio Orozco, Malú and Rosalía. This coincidence in time, luckily, accompanied her favorably (within the circumstances) since it meant that the calendar was not broken much at a work level. After a season, it's time to start composing. Feelings being so linked to the lyrics, one comes soaked in what one has experienced and pours it into the songs. As Lorca would say: “ I am on my way in the afternoon / among garden flowers, / leaving on the road / the water of my sadness.” And where one sheds one's tears one is also watering the flowers that will come.

WALKER

The path is also to feel that we are part of something. The road is a meeting place. Within our individuality, we share a path. This song is a hymn to solidarity and empathy. It has a very special history. One of those where the head and the heart align with the will to give way to action.

PUT IT DOWN

Dedicated to music, which is that language that only those who feel it speak. María tells me that it is a tribute to everything that music has given her. And I thank music for what it has given us, because then we have what it gives us. What would be this path, which is life, without songs.

COCO LOCO

In “Coco Loco” there is a loving, loving, fun stop. Anyone who has ever been a little crazy knows that love should never lose that innocence that cleans everything.

THE EARTH

The disk closes here with a piece of memory. “La Tierra” is a classic lyric that Fernanda de Utrera sang for bulería and soleá. María interprets it with so much truth that you feel her voice breaking in your throat. This song is a dagger of resignation to the heart. A song to keep going, despite the pain. And quoting Antonio Machado again: It is a bitter walk, because the path weighs heavily on the heart!

One of my favorite poets, Alfonsina Storni, says in a poem that talks about who we are and how they see us over time: “ I will continue my path slowly,/ My gaze will look into your eyes,/ My gaze will go very deep/ ,/And someone, in the crowd, will understand.” I think Niña Pastori is a specialist in saying with her eyes, and I think this album is full of her deep way of looking. Name the feelings that transcend and abandon their own name, those emotions that flood us and shine until the words are erased from our mouths. Weave deep roots that are nourished by the earth and weave light roots that fly to the sky.

It values ​​what is important: time with loved ones, getting to know each other better, the need to remain attentive to happiness, not being in a hurry, generating special moments because, who knows, maybe tomorrow it won't be possible. It is easy, sometimes, to forget what is important.
This path is a journey not to be missed.
This path is a journey to find yourself.

NIÑA PASTORI - CAMINO – TOUR 2023

May 27 – VALENCIA – Congress Palace

June 2 – JAÉN – Alameda Auditorium

June 3 – ILLESCAS – The Illescas Scenic

June 30 – LA LÍNEA DE LA CONCEPCION – In La Línea Música (Bullring)

July 1 – CÓRDOBA – Los Califas Bullring

July 6 – MADRID – Botanical Nights (Royal Alfonso XIII Botanical Garden)

July 15 – CHICLANA DE LA FRA. – Concert Music Festival

July 22 – NERJA – 62nd Nerja Cave Festival

July 28 – BERJA (ALMERÍA) – Bullring

August 5 – SITGES – Jardins Terramar Festival

August 6 – SANT FELIU DE GUÍXOLS – Porta Ferrada Festival

August 18 – CARTAGENA – Paco Martín Auditorium

August 19 – ALICANTE – Bullring

August 23 – PUNTA UMBRÍA – Star Point (Espacio de la Ría)

August 25 – ESTEPONA – Bullring

September 14 – ALBACETE – Caseta de los Jardinillos

September 23 – MÁLAGA – Málaga Auditorium

September 30 – MAIRENA DEL ALJARAFE – Cabaret Festival (Equestrian Center)

October 15 – VIGO – Mar de Vigo Auditorium

October 21 – GRANADA – Congress Palace

November 5 – BÉZIERS (FRANCE) – Salle Zinga Zanga

November 16 – PAMPLONA – Baluarte Auditorium

November 18 – MURCIA – Víctor Villegas Auditorium

November 23 – PALMA DE MALLORCA – Trui Teatre

November 26 – BILBAO – Euskalduna Palace

December 5 – BARCELONA – Forum Auditorium