Paste Studio “On The Road” carried to Austin during SXSW, setting up our pop-up “studio” before business hours in a gorgeous Mediterranean restaurant on South Congress called Aba. Latin GRAMMY winner and Puerto Rican singer-songwriter GALE showed up bright and early with her game face on, sharing one song from her debut album, Lo Que No Te Dije, and two from her forthcoming album.
Full Session
The first song, “Skittles,” is dedicated to the memory of an ex-boyfriend named Ati who passed away. I didn’t find that out until I watched the official music video for the song, which added a new perspective and weight to GALE’s vocal performance, and to the minor guitar chords strummed by Max Padron.
“Skittles”
Next up is “Ahora Si” from GALE’s debut album, Lo Que No Te Dije. GALE has written songs for some of the biggest pop stars in the world, including Shakira, Christina Aguilera, and Juanes, so she obviously knows her way around big pop hooks, and big pop production. But take a listen to this completely stripped back performance, and then listen to the album version. For an artist with all of the production bells and whistles at her fingertips, she instead opted for a beautifully understated arrangement that draws all of our attention back to her voice.
Last up is another single from the forthcoming record, “Por Si Las Dudas.”
“Por Si Las Dudas”
Big thanks to Pat Callahan, Jamie Weil, Michael Giles, Cara Katz, and the whole team at Aba Austin and Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group for hosting us. Y’all didn’t have to send us out into the world with bellies full of muhammara and charred eggplant, but you did, and we were better for it.
