Ana Torroja: “It was difficult for me to assimilate and adapt to a world from which I did not come”

(CNN Spanish) – Spanish singer and icon of Spanish pop music, Ana Torroja, presents the single “Hora y Cuarto” that he recorded with another pop icon of Spanish music, Alaska.

In conversation with Zona Pop CNN, Torroja confessed how the idea of ​​singing with Alaska came up; of the advice he would give to Ana Torroja from the 80s and her time in the Mecano group and with whom she would like to talk for an hour and a quarter today.

It was a revelation, says Torroja: “It was an idea that had been around in the air for a long time. We always felt that it had to be something natural, something not forced. During the pandemic this song came to me and when I heard it it was like a revelation”.

“It seemed to me that I had all the ingredients to make it with her and I also visualized it. So, I grabbed the phone and sent it to her to listen to and she loved it. Then we talked about how we wanted the video to be. We did it together, and it was one of the treasures of this collaboration, having been together to be able to make the video “, he adds.

Ana Torroja, a pop icon who adapts without losing her essence

It was in June 1981 when the Spanish group Mecano released their first single, “Today I can’t get up,” and many more followed, placing it as one of the icons of Spanish musical pop.

Ana’s voice gave life to songs such as “Woman against woman”, “I sneaked into a party” and “There is no march in New York” and made the public recognize her without hesitation: she was the interpreter not only in her career together with Mecano, but also that of his solo stage … from 1997.

How does Ana Torroja adapt to this evolution of so many years and how does she continue to maintain her essence? Ana responds:

“Life is constantly changing, constantly evolving and we are walking in that sense. Besides, I don’t have a very specific style, but my voice makes everything I sing ‘something of Ana Torroja’. In this case, both for ‘Hora y Cuarto’, as for the rest of the songs on the album, I have worked hand in hand with people who have drunk, musically speaking, from the 80s, in which I was born, musically speaking too “.

“The audacity that I also like in daring to risk and try new things has made both ‘Hora y Cuarto’ and the rest of the songs for me an enjoyment, a learning process, a motivation to continue making music,” he adds .

Advice from Ana Torroja from 2021 to Ana Torroja from 1987

Fame can be synonymous with success, but it can also be a negative in the life of a singer. There are many who do not know how to handle it and lose their ground and many times the fame ends in a tragedy.

If today’s Ana Torroja had the opportunity to get on the DeLorean from “Back to the Future” and go back to the 80s, what would she say to Ana de Mecano?

“I would tell him to take it easier. From the moment that ‘I can’t get up today’ succeeds, it was already meteoric. There was no going back, no pauses or moments to breathe. That overwhelmed me. In other words, it was difficult for me to assimilate and adapt to a world from which I did not come and from which I did not know anything.

“Then I would tell him to take a deep breath, take it easy, learn quietly, assimilate, manage all the things that were difficult or new, such as fame, and enjoy the road …, because I really do. I enjoyed. There were more complicated moments, but it has always been an enjoyment, “he adds.

An hour and a quarter to talk to …

The covid-19 pandemic around the world changed the way of living together. We stop seeing our loved ones and in many cases, we stop talking with them. Ana Torroja confesses with whom she would like to sit down and talk for an hour and a quarter and about the topics she would like to talk about:

“I’m going to take three hours to think, how difficult! I’m going to tell you someone with whom I would love to. Besides, I know it would be fun. One would be Adele because of that English sense of humor she has, which is magnificent. The second would be with Penelope Cruz, who has not seen her for a long time and would like to talk about life. I would not like to talk about work or anything, but about life “, concludes the singer.

The video for “Hora y Cuarto” is a cat and mouse hunt set in a multi-colored party with a futuristic and galactic idea. There the encounters and misunderstandings of Alaska, the most wanted thief in the universe, and Ana Torroja, the only detective capable of capturing her, are narrated.