A rhythm that surrounds us
People begin to move to the beat of a peculiar rhythm. A soft tremor that little by little becomes synchronized, snaking like a snake slithering down your back. What is this rhythm? Amazing. For context: Pau Vallvé is playing, our favorite melancholic, who recently starred in his own sitcom at the Teatre Grec. Surprises of life: neither the singer-songwriter is so melancholic, nor did those present expect that the song of the summer of 2024 would be his.
The charm of a summer song
There has been much debate about what makes a song considered the song of the summer (and even more complicated, what happens to the song of the summer for those who don’t have a summer). But basically, a summer song meets three characteristics: nostalgia, freshness and standout. In the best cases, some songs add a fourth characteristic: novelty. Ens hem guanyat l’estiu, the first single from the Barcelona musician’s next album, meets all four requirements.
A car trip with the windows down
The narrative of a car trip with the windows down, the wind blowing in your face, short sleeves, back roads… It’s pure nostalgia. You and I. Furthermore, the musician adds a touch of universal freshness by mentioning Nivea, something we all know. The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” plays. But that’s not all, the meticulous producer adds a clapperboard base that is maintained throughout the song, betting everything on the melody. You don’t have to speed up the pace for a summer song to be a hit. The rhythm does not break (as does, for example, the catchy “La iaia de Mama Dousha”).
A delicate folk touch with an Italian wine flavor
The song constantly borders on the delicacy of folk with a refreshing touch of Italian wine. Leggera music for hot days. It is enough that the melody is the protagonist. The song has two choruses: “we have earned the summer” and one that ends with a delicious falsetto: “And I could cry.” The ending: “this summer is for us”, confirms the carpe diem, the photo in which we all want to stay. And if that were not enough, the story behind the song is beautiful in itself: the musician, not given to collaborations, has broken his own rules. He has written the lyrics to the song of another, Daniel Lumbreras, a friend for whom he produced “La Vila” (2017) and our Daniel Johnston of the unfinished songs. The original song that inspires Vallvé’s single is “Été”, it has no lyrics and the Barcelonan has turned it around until he reaches “Ens hem guanyat l’estiu”.
A rhythm that surrounds us
The song constantly borders on the delicacy of folk with a refreshing touch of Italian wine. Leggera music for hot days. It is the voice, sexy and heartbreaking, that does it. Meanwhile, the sinuous snake that has captivated half of Grec, a clear but surfy guitar, is leaving its mark on the brain.
Pau Vallvé, happy and unleashed
The song confirms two things. First, that the category of “sad boy” is a thing of the past. “De Bosc” (2012) or “Pels dies bons” (2014) have little to do with the conceptual and distinctive “La vida és ara” (2020) or “:)” (2022), an album that broadened the horizons beyond Radiohead’s alternative rock and bastard folk, including, among others, samba. The song paves the way to imagine what will come in the fall: because yes, there will be a song of the summer, but there was also a landing in electronics at the Grec, a reduced version of Los Planetas… Pau Vallvé is happy, unleashed. He is looking for the minimal formula of the song, regardless of the packaging.
