Folkalist just announced the signing of Argentinian cantora, composer and community artist Juana Luna. Her album Canciones en Blanco y Negro (Songs in Black and White) is slated for release on August 9, 2024. On it, Luna leans into her vagabond ways and pays homage to her ancestral wanderers.
The full-length record is dedicated to drifting dreamers everywhere—including her own grandmothers and great great-grandmothers. “I feel very connected to all the women who came before me,” says Luna. “In a way, this album is a ritual of acceptance for all the women whose stories don’t get told, whose suffering got swept under the rug. This is an embrace, a way of looking through the generations to say thank you to those who came before me.” The album features breathtaking arrangements commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Luna’s journeys have taken her around the globe, where she performs her soulful original compositions alongside wistful, delicate takes on traditional Argentinian folk songs. By weaving together a carefully curated selection of familiar Argentinian folk tunes with her own folk-inspired originals, Luna draws a powerful connection between the visions of her elders and her own dreams. “As a traveler, I’m always arriving somewhere new, observing people’s decisions in new contexts,” says Luna, who is no stranger to the vulnerability of getting lost. To celebrate the new release, Luna will perform September 7 at the Lincoln Center Atrium in New York City.