Press reviews

A truly lovely launch, Jeffrey Henckels, Billboard Discoveries
Billboard Discoveries
The vocals of Peruvian singer/songwriter Angela Maria’s full-length “Como Soy” conjure a soft rain falling upon the western coast of South America . While much of her debut album, which was two years in the making, is uptempo, blending Afro-Peruvian and Latin rhythms, her vocal quality is at once endearing and intimate. Accompanied by acoustic guitarist (and album producer) Tito Manrique, album opener and highlight “Primavera,” poetically implores, “How many springs are in the winter of your soul?” Other highlights include “Si tu te vas,” which bids a sweet farewell, while “Ven a mi encuentro,” on the other hand, offers a call to (romantic) arms. Duet “Adios,” with singer Carlos Ardiles, narrates the finish of a love story, testifying that all ends okay, thanks to a festive mesh of Peruvian musical styles panalivio, with Tex mex, ballenato and cumbia. Maria spent time in Europe polishing her palette, which, while authentically South American, reveals the ambitions of a talent who could share her wares with the world. A truly lovely launch.

Womad 2009 Guardian UK
Guardian UK Robin Denselow
WOMAD 2009: From Peru (and France) came Radiokijada, with the Gotan Project’s Christoph H Muller joining in for a cool, percussive reworking of black Peruvian styles. This was only the second performance from a band that started out as a studio project, and they succeeded thanks to the soulful vocals of their new singer, Angela Maria Fontana, and Muller’s restraint with the electronics.

Alex Henderson-Review you
Peru has a lot to be proud of musically. In addition to producing a wealth of traditional Andean music, the South American country has also given us everyone from major tecno-cumbia/Latin pop stars like Rossi War to all the great chicha artists who emerged back in the 1960s and 1970s. Chicha is an innovative form of cumbia that incorporates psychedelic rock as well as modal post-bop jazz. Peru’s musical culture has a way of staying with Peruvian singers even when they are no longer living in their native country, and that is obviously the case with Angela María on her debut album, Como Soy. The Lima native, who shouldn’t be confused with a Brazilian singer of the 1940s and 1950s named Angela Maria, now lives in the Netherlands, after spending some time in Italy. The Peruvian influence is something Maria continues to use to her creative advantage. That is not to say, however, that Maria is a traditional Peruvian singer in the strict sense. Como Soy (whose title means “The Way I Am” in Spanish) is actually a Latin pop album, yet incorporates elements of traditional Afro-Peruvian music as well as elements of jazz, Columbian vallenato, Afro-Cuban salsa and cumbia, which originated in Columbia but is huge in Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and other South American countries.

Listeners who like their Latin pop with a lot of different Latin American influences will find Como Soy to be a consistently agreeable and pleasing listen.

Peruvian press, newspapers. (Prensa peruana diversos reportajes)
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