It is a short-duration album (it doesn't reach half an hour) but with a lot of content. Maria Rodés has found inspiration in those women who, in the darkest times, bothered the established powers not so much for their supposed evil, but for their freedom. They are the witches, in whom our singer-songwriter has reflected, in some way, to build the splendid musical journey that is Lilith.
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-- What is the origin of this project?
-- In fact, it's a set of things. I lived in Cabrera de Mar until I was twenty, and when I go back to visit my parents I always go up to Burriac castle. One day, I stumbled upon a book that explained the legends of the town, among them the witch gatherings at the castle. This made me think about how a woman like me ---who at that time was 33 years old--- without a partner, children, or even a stable home, would have been seen in the 15th century. This rumination led me to imagine myself as a contemporary witch.
-- Did you do more research on the subject?
-- Yes, in many ways. I read books about legends of covens from various parts of the Iberian Peninsula, and some doctoral theses that talked about how the Inquisition judged these women, and what they accused them of. Catalonia, by the way, was the first place in Europe where a law was made about the crime of witchcraft against God... I also found references in Jaume Roig's Espill (1460), a very misogynistic book. Roig says that witches met in the cave of Biterna and there they made a pact with the devil. I was looking for where this cave was, but it seems that many people have looked for it and have never found it... The first part of the song Les bruixes tornen is literally a fragment of Espill. In this case, I seek to turn it around: everything the book condemns, I turn into something positive.
Witches were advanced women who had great knowledge of medicine or subjects like astronomy; I wanted to recover their luminous side-- What interests you about witches?
-- I am very interested in who these women who bothered society were and what they were like, and for what reasons. The magician is a figure who has always been well treated, he is the wise man who, in some way, informs society of advances. But the witch, who is essentially the same, is represented as an evil being and is associated with ugliness, loneliness... There is obvious sexism here. Witches were advanced women who had great knowledge of medicine or other subjects such as, for example, astronomy. What I wanted was to recover the luminous part of these women.
-- Why did you choose the figure of Lilith for the album title?
-- Lilith was Adam's first wife, and she left Eden so as not to submit to him. Then God created Eve, who was more obedient. It seemed to me that Lilith was a very good symbol for this project. It is also a tribute to this independent woman, who prioritizes her freedom above the comfort of paradise. That is why they accuse her of allying with the devil and God punishes her by killing her children.
-- What initially attracted me most was her poetry, which are actually the texts she used for her rituals, spiritual or hallucinogenic journeys. She was a Mexican healer who was visited by the Beatles, by Jodorowsky, Aldous Huxley... she had a top clientele, ha, ha, ha! La extraña plays a bit with her way of writing, it pretends to be a kind of shamanic ritual based on her imaginary.
-- This song walks through cumbia. Others do it through jota (Seguramente fui yo) or chacarera (Con los pies desnudos).
-- It's that the world of witches directly leads me to these root sounds. One of the theses I read said that in covens there were small string and percussion instruments. Imagining what these covens would be like, I thought that in each area they would sound like the folklore of their own land. It is also true that, as a music lover, the folk trend attracts me more and more, the rawer the better. I know that sometimes it's not noticeable in my albums, right?, but when it comes to listening to music, it's what moves me the most. There I find these more authentic registers that I find inspiring.
The world of witches leads me to root sounds. The folk trend attracts me more and more, the rawer the better-- On the album, the devil often appears. At this moment, is there any particular demon that should scare us more?
-- This is very subjective. Everyone has their demons, and what for me can be demons, for another person can be little angels... In fact, in this album there is also a will to show that good and evil are not so differentiated. We all have our demons, and we must learn to live with them and manage them.
-- Lately your albums have a thematic fit: the covers in the case of Maria canta copla (2014), the figure of your great-uncle astronomer in Eclíptica (2016)... Is it a simple coincidence or is it a working method?
-- It has happened casually, but it is true that I feel especially comfortable working this way, because it serves as a creative engine for me. It's about taking a story that attracts me and passing it through my filter, asking myself questions. This forces me to do an introspective exercise to talk about things that, at the same time, are not only about me. My first albums were more personal, I talked about my relationships or my thoughts, and now I have found a way to continue talking about myself, but also to talk about others. It's an interesting process.
-- A process that is usually fun or obsessive, or...?
-- Both things can go together! It is clear that there is an obsessive part, sometimes more, sometimes not so much. But for me it is, above all, a passionate process, especially the first part of research on the topic in question, which is what I enjoy the most and what nourishes me the most. The album is only a part of the result of this research. Afterwards, I take many more things as a person.