Spotlight: Bilingual Queer Experimentations in Macarena’s “Libre”
GET READY TO BRUSH UP ON YOUR ESPAÑOL — for Macarena’s latest single. An Amsterdam-based artist with Chilean roots, Macarena is an independent neo-soul, R&B, and pop singer-songwriter who’s been making music since 2017. Since her debut, “Celebrate,” she’s released a handful of tracks. Most recently, she’s come out with “Patience” and “Lágrimas” in 2021 and “Paradise” in 2022.
Her latest track, “Libre,” produced with two friends, speaks on the importance of freedom for marginalized groups such as queer people and people of color. With her new music, Macarena continues to challenge herself in two languages, working to create a safe space for queer folks.
“My sound has changed in the sense that it's more in Spanish,” Macarena shares.
In fact, the artist wanted to challenge herself to write in Spanish to honor her Latin American roots, as well as make her music an outspoken safe space for queer lyricism.
“I grew up listening to a lot of jazz and pop so I naturally gravitated towards a more neo-soul pop sound,” she explains. “I would like to experiment more with Latin sounds for sure.”
In this process of transformation, Macarena was inspired lyrically by the genuine, raw stories of artists such as Mac Miller and J. Cole, sonically by Erykah Badu and Kali Uchis, and artistically by the independent Mexican American rapper Snow Tha Product, who also writes in both Spanish and English.
These influences shine through in “Libre,” which came to life during the height of the pandemic, when the artist had the time and space to reflect.
“I was able to feel more, and with that came the feeling that I didn't always feel safe expressing my queer identity,” Macarena reflects.
So she wrote the song to honor the human longing for freedom, and to recognize that it isn't always given to everyone everywhere.
Although music isn’t her only occupation at the moment, Macarena is grateful to have the time to develop her passion in her free time as opposed to a full-time career. Occasionally, she takes inspiration from working with kids — this endeavor allows creativity to come to her whenever it does, helping her see the world through a different lens.
“My dream for the future is to never give up, even when I don't believe in myself and my sound,” she says. “I think great things will happen if I keep creating and making new connections and sharing what I feel and see with the world.”
Connecting with people in real life is what it’s all about when it comes to sharing Macarena’s music — she dreams of small, intimate shows that allow her to interact with the crowd by talking to people and bouncing off energies. All of this while she keeps experimenting with her sound.
