Extremadura native Chema Castaño A.K.A. Balarrasa is unafraid to open up his heart and share his deepest emotions with us. Just take a listen to his latest release ‘La Justicia’, a collection of 5 songs in Spanish where he walks us through a maze glazed with adrenaline where your five senses will react and tweak to his hypnotic voice, steady beats and dissonant guitars. Is it a coincidence that this EP has five songs that evoke the pursue of freedom, and that under numerology the number 5 represents curiosity, freedom and change? Trippy??? A bit, but that’s for you to decide.
First cut ‘Mapas’ is a mix of Air’s ‘Cherry Blossom Girl’ and Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’. A beautiful melody and a pugnacious harmony collide and feed off each other while trying to make it on top of a race. Chema’s layered vocals -have the same attention grabbing effect of a Gregorian chant- stand as a light at the end of a tunnel, impossible to reach yet providing hope and comfort.
As an ancient Greek word for opportune moment, ‘Kairós’ pays tribute to its title. This song commands venturing into the aforementioned maze without any reservations. What appears to be a melodica makes its way early into the song in the same way that rays of light cut through the rain, making it the perfect soundtrack for a rainy morning.
Other tracks ‘Bruna’ and ‘Encuentro Casual’ are equally as enchanting as the previous two, but it is in closing ‘Canción Mágica’ where Chema sums up the core message of his EP with the lyric “Quién podra dictar al mundo que nos perdimos los dos?”. This roughly translates into: “Who could have told the world that we both got lost?”. A line I’m fond of as Chema has managed to convince us –with a smirk- that we lost our sense of direction throughout the 5 songs.
‘La Justicia’ is eager to challenge you and play with your senses. Give it a chance, and have it walk you through its maze. You will find yourself wanting back in it, only to discover that every walk will make you more curious and of course, changed and ever-free.
Catch more of Balarrasa here: