Of all of the music coming out of Los Angeles this week, Angélica Garcia may have some of the most exciting. The self-described “pop auteur” and singer-songwriter released her surprise single, “Jaunita,” on Tuesday (February 6) via Partisan Records, a move that shows this year may turn out to be big for the musician who’s already toured with the likes of Mitski and Vagabon.
The song is heavily influenced by the tradition of cumbia, with a driving cut-time rhythm that begs to be danced to. Sonically sparse but intricately layered, “Juanita” is anchored in its bassline and punctuated by kickdrum. The sound swells and contracts cyclically, evocative of a breathing pattern—surely a deliberate move on Garcia’s part, as they said that “my intention was for the tension and confusion in the song to feel like remembering a past life.”
In her previous releases, including 2016’s Music for Birds and 2020’s Cha Cha Palace, Garcia has sung predominantly in English; they bucked this trend with their debut singles for Partisan, the 2023 singles “Y Grito” and “El Que,” where they instead leaned into Spanish-language influence. In “Juanita,” Garcia performs entirely in Spanish: “Juanita, Juanita, por qué me llamas? Cuál es la fuerza que motiva?” Garcia begs in the track, wondering aloud why the titular Juanita beckons her (literally translating to “Juanita, Juanita, why do you call me? What is the force that motivates you?”). The translation is hardly necessary, though; the intense emotion in Garcia’s voice is palpable and linguistically transcendent, deftly pulling heartstrings with a surgical precision.
“Juanita” tackles the idea of familial history, heavily inspired by Garcia’s upbringing in an Episcopal Latino family and recent dedication to internally unpacking her history, religion, and grief. The influences come through while allowing just enough space for interpretation and audience reflection.
Accompanying the single came a black and white music video directed by award-winning Puerto Rican documentary filmmaker Sonia Malfa. In the video, Garcia plays two characters; the first is a beautifully dressed woman complete with dress, heels, and gloves, while the second is a portrait of masculinity in their checkered suit with a bowl cut and whisper of facial hair. The dichotomy unpacks the restrictions of gender roles while brilliantly depicting a disregard for binaries as the video cuts between the two.
“I wanted ‘Juanita’ to feel like the story of my life, but one that was also true in a past life,” Garcia says. “Many cumbias have lyrics about pain and longing… I wanted to capture what the shadow side of grief does to us.”