From a young age, Ángela Aguilar always knew that her purpose was to keep traditional música Mexicana alive. It’s a family affair, really: Her grandfather was ranchera hero Antonio Aguilar and her father is the renowned singer Pepe Aguilar. The 20-year-old singer continues to invigorate traditional sounds as she releases her latest album, Bolero, on Friday. The nine-track project captures the singer giving new life to romantic classics, backed by castanets and the soothing plucks of guitar, on tracks like “Piensa En Mi,” “Somos Novios,” and “Luna Lunera.” With the album, Aguilar also drops an hourlong visual project that captures the singer visiting Cuba, the birthplace of bolero. “Everywhere you turn, there’s music,” she says of the island. On the island, she met with Amadito Valdés, one of the original members of the storied Buena Vista Social Club, and performed for Omara Portuondo, 93, while learning exploring the island’s musical roots.
“I don’t like to be unprepared for things, especially something so important, which is somebody’s culture,” Aguilar says. “I believe that the only way to know where you’re going to go is if you know where you come from.” The album of classics comes at a time when a new generation of Mexican musicians has strayed from tradition and leaned into newer, urban-leaning genres like corrido tubados. Aguilar admits she isn’t a huge fan of the new music coming from acts like Luis R. Conriquez and Peso Pluma, and usually opts to listen to other music. “It’s just not my cup of tea,” she says.
Romantic classics are a genre that is not talked about anymore, it’s something your grandma listens to. It feels like there’s a timelessness to boleros. What was it like to sing these classics? It was hard. I’m not going to lie. Vocally, these songs expect so much from you with the harmonies and the inflections. The runs were different even It was so beautiful to be able to learn about that, because what’s the point of making music if it’s boring for you to sing? This is far from boring.
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Why is it so important to you to tap into those roots? Bolero is one of those things that we all hear about, but don’t know anything about. My grandmother [Flor Silvestre] used to sing “Luna Lunera” to me, and her mother used to sing it to her as a lullaby. This new generation, Gen Z, we’re just a very quick, fast, trendy, different type of people. Bolero has nothing to do with trends. It’s slow and it’s to be felt and honored
I think it’s really interesting because I think you bring in this other perspective to Gen Z about honoring roots. Do you think that that’s your place in the música Mexicana zeitgeist? I don’t know if that’s my identity, but it is one of my values and I take my values very, very seriously.