While Silvana Estrada is currently deep into finishing her official, debut album, which we’re patiently waiting for, the 23-year-old Veracruz singer is recovering a long-lost piece of her precious discography and giving it back to all of us.
Today, Estrada reissues Lo Sagrado, the very first album she recorded in 2016 when she was 19-years old, together with her musical friends Octavio Álvarez and Alex Lozano, known back then as Ciudad de Las Flores. Lo Sagrado was released shortly after, and only a couple months later, it completely disappeared from digital music services for undisclosed reasons. Estrada finally recovered these recordings and she’s putting them out to the world once again.
The project was produced by acclaimed jazz guitarist and composer Charlie Hunter, who has previously collaborated with D’Angelo, Frank Ocean, and John Mayer. The album stands right at the intersection between Estrada’s folkloric sensibilities and her jazz formation, prominently featuring her gorgeous, skilled voice and the delicate plucks of her Venezuelan cuatro, while dressing her songs with ambitious instrumental arrangements.
Together with the album reissue comes a brand new documentary short that traces back the recording process behind Lo Sagrado. Titled Volver a Lo Sagrado, the Edwin Erazo and Jorge Tirado co-directed piece features narration by Estrada herself, plus words from Hunter and images both recent and from the 2016 sessions. Lo Sagrado and its companion short give us a great picture of Estrada’s origins, but most importantly, get us hyped for what’s next to come from her in the following months.
UPDATE, July 24 at 2:00 p.m. ET: This post has been updated to accurately state Jorge Tirado’s directing credit.”