{"id":8418,"date":"2024-07-24T20:31:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T01:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8418"},"modified":"2024-07-24T20:31:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T01:31:48","slug":"grammy-nominated-singer-songwriter-perla-batalla-confirms-new-album-a-letter-to-leonard-cohen-tribute-to-a-friend-on-september-20-the-week-of-his-90th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=8418","title":{"rendered":"GRAMMY\u00ae-NOMINATED SINGER-SONGWRITER PERLA BATALLA CONFIRMS NEW ALBUM\u00a0A LETTER TO\u00a0LEONARD COHEN: TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND\u00a0ON SEPTEMBER 20, THE WEEK OF HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Celebrated for Her Distinctive Voice, Emotional Honesty and Culture-Merging Compositions, Batalla Toured and Recorded with Canada\u2019s Poet Laureate Who Encouraged This Project to Happen<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grammy\u00ae-nominated singer-songwriter Perla Batalla<\/strong><\/a>, whose powerful voice, emotional honesty, and boundary-defying songs have captivated audiences at prestigious venues around the world, is set to release her eighth full-length album, A Letter to Leonard Cohen: A Tribute to a Friend<\/em><\/strong> on September 20th, a day prior to what would have been Cohen\u2019s 90th birthday, via Symphonic<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first single and video from the album, the stirring and provocative track, \u201cDemocracy\u201d<\/a> is released today on all DSPs and her own YouTube page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batalla was Cohen\u2019s collaborator and friend for more than two decades. Cohen, of course, was a revered, Montreal-born, Grammy\u00ae-winning singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as invested as Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honor. An icon in his native land and around the globe, he is considered the poet laureate of Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What immediately sets this new album apart from other Cohen tributes is that Perla’s early career was guided by Cohen, who personally encouraged her journey as an artist. After singing with him for so many years, she brings a truly unique perspective to the Cohen canon, with the new album offering fresh interpretations of eight classic songs. It also includes two Perla originals \u2013 Awakened <\/em>and The L of Your First Name<\/em> \u2013 and her stirring rendition of The Partisan<\/em>, a poignant 1943 anti-fascist song of the French Resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batalla embarked on this current recording project in Barcelona in early 2020, just before the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. When the world reopened, she returned to Spain, only to discover that the project hard drives had vanished. Undeterred, she returned to her home in Ojai, California, and — fueled by her remaining savings and big-hearted contributions from friends and fans — returned to the studio to start the recording project anew, this time including two of her original compositions, both inspired by her late beloved friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re-tracking in Barcelona, New York, Ojai, and Santa Monica, Perla\u2019s diverse sonic palette blends her magnificent voice with the splendid ferocity of flamenco musicians, a moving gospel choir, a plaintive oud, and a live string section. In a bit of good fortune, Broadway great Patrick Page<\/strong><\/a>(Hadestown, All the Devils are Here, Gilded Age) <\/em>made himself available to perform alongside her on Cohen\u2019s Democracy<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 an all too timely ode to the fragility of the American experiment. Multi\u2013Grammy-winning producer Mike Elizondo <\/strong>(Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake, Encanto) <\/em>produced the chilling track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing Perla Batalla\u2019s voice for the first time is an epiphany. One may go to hear the classic songs but will end up feeling the profound joy and pathos in the music as never before. There is a subtlety of tone, a depth of emotion, and a sublime expressiveness as she interprets songs with her transcendent voice, that make the experience of this music deeply moving and absolutely unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by Nancy Santullo<\/em><\/strong>

Stirring and Provocative First Single and Video for the Track \u201cDemocracy\u201d Out Today is Both a Reminder and a Reinforcement of Where We Are in Today\u2019s Political Climate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/sym.ffm.to\/democracy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Track List:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/strong> Awakened<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.<\/strong> A Thousand Kisses Deep<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.<\/strong> Democracy (feat. special guest Patrick Page)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong> Sisters Of Mercy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Everybody Knows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Ain\u2019t No Cure For Love<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. The Partisan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. You Want It Darker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. The L Of Your First Name<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Take This Waltz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. A Singer Must Die<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrated for Her Distinctive Voice, Emotional Honesty and Culture-Merging Compositions, Batalla Toured and Recorded with Canada\u2019s Poet Laureate Who Encouraged This Project to Happen Grammy\u00ae-nominated singer-songwriter Perla Batalla, whose powerful voice, emotional honesty, and boundary-defying songs have captivated audiences at prestigious venues around the world, is set to release her eighth full-length album, A Letter to Leonard… Read More »GRAMMY\u00ae-NOMINATED SINGER-SONGWRITER PERLA BATALLA CONFIRMS NEW ALBUM\u00a0A LETTER TO\u00a0LEONARD COHEN: TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND\u00a0ON SEPTEMBER 20, THE WEEK OF HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8423,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8418\/revisions\/8423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}