JUAN WAUTERS Releases new single & video ‘Estás Escuchando’ Feat. five-time Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist El David Aguilar New album out Friday 30 April
“La Onda de Juan Pablo is a rich travelogue packed into 10 effervescent tracks…. a sonically rich, emotionally textured work, driven by the relationships that organically emerged as Wauters found collaborators in every new country he visited.” – Nylon
“The album is picaresque in its depictions of everyday heroes and their daily quests against the decidedly frenzied backdrop of the Uruguayan singer’s American transplant sensibilities.” – NPR
“[Waters] has proved himself to be something of an unrelenting force of joy. His songs are simple little sing-alongs that bask in a youthful naivety.” – Pitchfork
“[Wauters] music… conjures up the folk titans who haunted the streets and coffeeshops of Greenwich Village back in the ’60s.” – AV Club
Today, Juan Wauters shares ‘Estás Escuchando’, featuring five-time Latin GRAMMY nominated artist El David Aguilar. ‘Estás Escuchando‘ is the fourth single from Juan’s forthcoming album Real Life Situations, out April 30, which also features collaborations with Mac DeMarco, Peter Sagar (AKA Homeshake), Nick Hakim, Cola Boyy, and more. Directed by Juan Molinet, the ‘Estás Escuchando’ video is a colourful expression of playful animations. Watch here. ‘Estás Escuchando’ follows the “groove-heavy, feel-good” (Remezcla) ‘Presentation (with Nick Hakim and Benamin)‘, ‘Real (with Mac Demarco)‘ which FADER called an “authentic alignment,” and “uplifting” (Line of Best Fit) ‘Unity” (with Cola Boyy)’.
Juan Molinet on the‘Estás Escuchando’ video: “Enjoy this piece inspired by the classic sing-a-long videos for kids, whichfits perfectly well with this catchy and chirpy song by Juan and David, full of good vibes and impossible to take out of your head! The color and style also helps paint a picture of a breezy walk around the park, the perfect setting for whistling this tune away! Much love!”
Juan Wauters on ‘Estás Escuchando’: “I had heard of David when I was in Mexico recording ‘La Onda de Juan Pablo’. People there regarded him as one of the most talented songwriters of his generation. One day, months later, I was in Mexico recording a music video and I was invited to a house where there was a musicians’ gathering. When I showed up there were many well known singers there and they were all passing the guitar around and singing songs. One of the people there was David Aguilar. That day we made plans to meet and we did.
When it came time to do my albums in which I wanted to include other singers, of course I thought of inviting David to participate. I went down like this: I was in Mexico filming a music video for my song Mi Guitarra and we scheduled some studio time to do a song together. The initial idea I had was to utilize his great whistling ability and have the hook of the song be a whistling part. (I got this idea from the N.E.R.D. song Wonderful Place / Waiting for You). I wrote a whistling hook and I sent him an audio message with the idea I had in mind. He immediately sent an audio back of him playing the guitar (with that particular rhythm that the song has), the whistling hook and him singing two verses he wrote then (the ones that ended up on the song). I heard it, it was late at night and I sent him an audio back with the chorus (“si escuchas esto de noche, saca de tu pelo el broche y deja tu pelo al aire..”). It was made like that. Though we were both in the same city, the song happened to be written over the phone in a very quick and spontaneous way. It’s the only one of the collaborations on RLS that was written from afar.
The following day we met at his studio, Estudio Continuo, with Ulises Hadjis (Venezuelan musician, producer and co-owner of Estudio Continuo with David) and recorded the track. It was great to have Ulises in there. He played drums and oversaw the whole production. I saw then, at the studio, how talented of a musician David is. He played guitar, bass and sang the song very naturally.
This all happened the week before COVID LYFE hit so the song production was finished by me in NY during the summer of 2020. I had Chris West from Nashville send a flute solo. He sent 8 to have different variations. When I put them on the track, by accident, they all played at once I loved how they sounded all together so I left the flute solo be “a vibe” or “a ‘tonal’ moment”. It feels as though the song goes into a world during that solo and then quickly comes back to its easy-going-fun vibe.
You can enjoy the single edit or the long version of the song. Salúd David!!! Gracias por el momento y esta canción!!!!“
The interplay between genre-hopping eclecticism and earnest, plain-spoken observation makesReal Life Situationscome alive. It’s somethingWauters is known for, and for all its collaboration, this album could only have been made by him. Mining older songs, phone notes, new material, and snippets from TV and YouTube, he’s crafted an aural document of the year through his eyes. Jubilant choruses and spoken word poetry bleed into city noises and overheard conversations. Real freedom, the album suggests, comes not from gaining control, but from accepting its artifice.
Until recently, Wauters had viewed his solo project as just that – a singular expression of his artistic vision. A trip through Latin America while recording his last album, however, laid the groundwork for a different approach. Inviting local musicians to contribute to the songs he was working on producing a collection unlike any of his previous work, infused with the musical traditions of each country he’d visited. As a result, 2018’s La Onda De Juan Pablo and its follow-up, Introducing Juan Pablo, were Wauters’ most expansive and sonically diverse records to date, tracing both his Uruguayan roots and his travellers’ spirit. On Real Life Situations, he’s channeled this collaborative spirit, lending his chameleonic songwriting to experiments in hip-hop, lo-fi R&B, and deft indie folk.
Real Life Situationswill be released digitally on April 30 and physically on May 14. Pre-order/save here
Juan Wauters – Real Life Situations
1. A JPW Headspace 2020
2. Monsoon (with Homeshake)
3. Sentimiento Queens
4. Locura
5. Ventana
6. Presentation (with Nick Hakim & Benamin)
7. Unity (with Cola Boyy)
8. Real (with Mac DeMarco)
9. Keep Cool
10. Carmina Pensá
11. A Peter Pan Donuts Conversation
12. Lion Dome (with Air Waves)
13. JPW Talking
14. Acordes (with Tall Juan)
15. Bailando
16. Estás Escuchando (with El David Aguilar)
17. Crack Dabbling
18. A JPW Theme Song
19. Yendo
20. Powder
21. NY Weaz
Juan Wauters – Real Life Situations is out
digitally Friday 30 April and physically Friday 14 May
via Captured Tracks / Remote Control