Luz Casal: "Now I allow myself things that I didn't before"

One and a half hours before the event started, there were already people lining up at the doors of the Pablo Ruiz-Picasso Cultural Center. It was for a good reason. Luz Casal was detailing her latest album, 'Me voy a permitir', in a conversation with Alberto Gómez, a journalist from SUR and head of the cultural series 'Torremolinos y Gigantes'. The performer of 'Piensa en mí' presented her most recent work, which includes collaborations with Carla Bruni, Chris Barron (Spin Doctors), Renaud Letang (Manu Chao, Feist), and Wix Wickens (Paul McCartney).

The Galician singer, tasked with turning on the Christmas lights in the Malaga municipality, reviewed her extensive career spanning more than four decades at the top of an industry where, as Gómez pointed out, «surviving more than a short while is a real miracle». She has done so staying true to her principles, as reflected in 'Me voy a permitir', an album that was initially going to be a tribute to important women in Casal's life and ended up as a mix that includes five original songs.

"Act of Generosity"

Among these songs is the title track, where Luz, as she joked yesterday, has allowed herself "to tell the idiot what I think of him" more as "an act of generosity, so he realizes," than for other reasons. She also revealed that she has ventured into her first "hate song," although "I am sure I don't hate anyone." It is the classic 'Bravo', which is part of the half of the album dedicated to adaptations, which also includes other songs from the Latin American songbook like 'Todo cambia' and even a revision of 'She' by Charles Aznavour, shared with Bruni: "I was amazed by her, as soon as she entered the studio we knew it would be interesting".

Gómez recalled that she has just been named a marchioness by the Kings and introduced her as follows: "I believe, from the heart, that she is a woman who makes our culture, and also our country, a little better". During the talk, Casal emphasized the importance of women in her career, from Rosalía de Castro to La Niña de los Peines, from Janis Joplin to Gata Cattana. And, above all, her mother: "She is the person who has taught me the most, starting with teaching me to think before speaking".