On the heels of his La Onda de Juan Pablo LP, Juan Wauters is happy to announce a forthcoming new album, Introducing Juan Pablo, out on May 31 via Captured Tracks/ Remote Control. Today Juan shares the first single ‘Letter’ and of the track he notes, ‘Letter’ is one of the first songs that I wrote after releasing Who Me?in 2015. It is a song about a love story coming to crossroads where the future is uncertain. I recorded this song in many different ways during 2015 and 2016 when my goal was to learn to record while being on tour or in transit. In this specific version I tried to emulate The Beatles production from the album, Beatles For Sale, especially the song ‘I’ll Be Back’.
La Onda de Juan Pablo, released in January, allowed Wauters to reinvent himself and Introducing Juan Pabloserves as both a companion and prequel to that story. It’s a bit timeless: at the time the album was made, Wauters left it on stand-by. That’s why its title emphasises it origin: to present Juan Pablo and, simultaneously, to reveal his inner journey. Wauters explains, “The album was written and recorded before La Onda de Juan Pablo. At that time, I was away from an audience. When I finished it, I didn’t release it. I wasn’t ready to go out and play it live. In fact, I didn’t want to play live at all. I was going through an introspective moment. Then everything changed when I made La Onda….” Juan recalls the need to rethink himself: “I’d been recording and playing live continuously, without pausing to think what it really means to be a solo artist. I looked inside myself and, at the same time, I tried to see myself from the outside.”
Traveling continues to leave a mark on Wauters. His previous album, with its folkloric airs and its Latin roots, made that clear.Introducing Juan Pablo also embraces that spirit, although his main journey is internal. Introducing… exposes Wauters two worlds, his two languages, and his day-to-day life in the neighbourhood and his life as an artist. Though Juan was born in Uruguay, he has lived in New York for a long time. “At first, I wanted to show another musical face for this series of records. For me, Juan Pablo is part of a more personal search. And that has to do with migration: when you move to the United States, the second name ceases to exist. Since I moved here, I’m just Juan. But in Uruguay I’m Juan Pablo Wauters. I felt it was significant to retake my middle name.”
His immigrant’s side. His sense of belonging. His social life and his use of language. His need to work. And the even stronger need that his work doesn’t become monotonous. His dream of another possible world: a world where all worlds fit. Juan Wauters went through all this to introduce us to Juan Pablo. They are the same person: one among the whole crowd. He is here to share his songs, his field recordings, his videos and his live performances. Everything comes from the same creative head. Everything springs up with the same intention – not intentional at all – to express himself freely.
