Xoel López: “The songs in my life are a bonfire in a cold cabin”

The 90s began and a teenager from A Coruña wrote his first songs. He didn’t think he would dedicate himself to music, but 30 years and 16 albums later prove how wrong he was. Xoel López (46 years old, A Coruña) told a group of EL PAÍS readers that precisely that initial disbelief is what makes him enjoy his profession so much despite the years. He did it in a meeting held a few days ago at the Teatros Luchana in Madrid in which he talked about his latest album, Spirit broth, and about his presentation tour, which starts in May. The event is part of the EL PAÍS+ activities program.

“The songs in my life are a bonfire in a cold cabin,” explained the musician about the imagery that has accompanied him in the composition of this work. He wanted to escape the coldness that he perceived in society and began a search for spirituality, for real connection with other people, for shelter and warmth. Not being religious, he satisfies all those needs through music: “The spiritual has to do with the poetic, with the arts and the world of emotions.” He also proposed this to his work group and they ended up recording the album in cabins and rural houses, with “quite organic” instruments with which he has given the warmth and depth that is summarized in the title of the album, which translates as “hot.” spirit”.

The Galician delved into the influence of nature in his themes, with the sea always present, even unconsciously: “When I compose, I feel like a guy with a rod trying to catch something from that deep sea.” He also spoke of the Latin American rhythms that crept into his dreams when, as a child, he fell asleep on the couch listening to the merengue from his parents’ parties, a pleasure they kept from his stay in the Dominican Republic. His subsequent passage through Argentina only strengthened that inclination, which is present in songs like Magical and eternal.

Xoel López immersed himself in the meaning of some songs on the album, such as Albatross, in which he confesses to feeling “a geek” because he has tried to escape trends and have his own personality. He also explained that If my lightning struck you He dedicates it to a person hooked on drugs whom he wants to help, but can’t: “And if you could see yourself through my eyes. If my own lightning struck you, would you continue deserting life? Or would you return like the first time, like a fish, soaring through the waters? Saltpeter and smoke It is dedicated to one of the venues that has seen him grow, the Náutico de San Vicente, in O Grove, where artists such as Iván Ferreiro, Leiva and Vetusta Morla have passed and continue to pass by. The Galician also sang xianawhich he dedicates to the girl who never was, but who for a time her parents believed she would be.

The artist confessed that he is currently experiencing a “less creative” stage, the second of his life, but that it does not worry him. “It’s like being fallow, a way to recover,” he said. And he also reassured the public: “I notice that I already have small impulses.”