Puerto Rican activist and songwriter Ani Cordero released the new single "Es Amor [It's Love]" today along with a meditative lyric video. Watch it below.
Released via artist-run collective Panapén Records, this new song of love, friendship, and healing arrives at a time of political change in the US, which has brought a feeling of tremendous relief and renewal for the world, even amid the raging pandemic. The track comes ahead of Valentine's Day, yet it talks about love in a bigger way than traditional romance.
"I want this song to be like a hug for everyone," says Ani. "After the year we've all had, it feels like we all need to return to love. We all definitely need healing."
The Spanish lyrics (see translation here) talk about a kind of simple love, free from needs and desires, a love that is easy. "You don't have to have a reason to feel love. It's about the love in my life in all varieties," writes Ani.
Cordero is known for writing songs that reflect the mood of our times, and the gently upbeat "Es Amor" is an abrupt change from Cordero's 2019 album El Machete that warned of a dangerous point in our world politics.
The pandemic hasn't stopped Ani's music. Just this month, David Byrne featured songs from Ani Cordero on "Latin Alternative Now," one of the former Talking Head and tastemaker's noted playlists. During the pandemic, Cordero wrote and recorded a new EP featuring "Es Amor," and performed virtual concerts for NYC's Lincoln Center and Chicago's Casa Centrál. Cordero has continued to write, record, and perform, as well as focus on her activism with PRIMA, the innovative grassroots charity she co-founded with Raquel Berríos of Buscabulla to help support the Puerto Rican Independent music community.
Ani Cordero has played in groups such as Os Mutantes and Pistolera. Cordero has been the subject of feature stories on radio and press including NPR's All Things Considered, NPR's Alt-Latino, Billboard, USA Today, PRI The World, Brooklyn Vegan, BUST Magazine, Remezcla, The New Yorker, The New York Times, CNN en Espanol, and Univisión.
