It’s not easy to follow your dreams, especially if you’ve already achieved success doing something else. A job that allows you to receive a good paycheck, afford a comfortable life, and brings you praise is a hard thing to give up when you want to chase your artistic desires. But there are some stories that serve as inspiration to give it a shot, and few are more intriguing than that of Juana Molina’s, an Argentinian musician who has captivated critics and found admiration from several famous artists since bursting into the scene with her first album, Rara, in 1996, when she was 44 years old.
Her journey into the music industry was not simple. Juana’s parents, Horacio Molina and Chuchuna Villafane, were both progressive artists forced to flee Argentina in 1976, after a military coup. The family moved to Paris, where she would develop an interest in foreign music. They returned to their country in 1981, and by her mid-twenties, Juana started looking for jobs that would allow her to have enough free time to pursue her interest in music. She found work on television, but her career in the silver screen took off and she ended up becoming a star in Argentina. Eventually she would get her own show, Juana y sus hermanas (‘Juana and her Sisters’), which further propelled her rise as a one of Argentina’s favorite comedians.
In1993, she put her acting career on pause, and in 1994 decided to cancel it altogether to pursue her music career. Her decision wasn’t well received by Argentinians, who had grown to love the slew of funny characters she played on her shows, and it was one of the main reasons behind her first album’s negative reception by her countrymen. Despite not finding immediate success in Argentina, foreign audiences welcomed her with open arms, praising her work for its haunting ambience and hypnotizing use of loops, a genre that’s been called “folktronica”.
Juana’s career started to rise, and respected musicians expressed admiration for her work. David Byrne listened to her second album, Segundo, and proceeded to hire her as the opening act in one of his American tours. Radiohead’s drummer, Philip Selway, mentioned her fourth album, Son, as one of his main influences in a list published by Music OMH, along the likes of Lou Reed’s Transformer and David Bowie’s Low. He also praised her creativity and the impressive artistic evolution she’s had.
Her seventh album, released in May, received critical acclaim. Pitchfork’s Matthew Ismael Ruiz gave it a score of 8.0, and closed his review saying: “Halo suggests a self-realization that is often breathtaking. […] It seems Molina finally sees her true self staring back at her,” referring to Juana’s journey from comedic star into accomplished musician whose artistic voice is starting to overshadow her past work in television. When you listen to it, you understand what he means. Juana Molina is a superbly talented musician. Her career as an actress at first made her music seem like a celebrity’s publicity stunt to attract further attention, but once you become familiarized with her albums, you realize her music is far superior than her comedic skills, and those were incredible, so that should give you an idea of just how talented she is.
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