Collaborating with Jimena Angel on "Aire"

My friend Bertrand Niquel—co-founder of the Parisian radio station Le Mellotron and the label Elis Records—spent a lot of time in Colombia before the 2020 pandemic. Prior to his last trip to Bogotá, we researched the local music scene and discovered a beautiful track by an artist called Jimena Angel. Intrigued, Bertrand reached out to Jimena during his stay, and she was excited to start releasing music with Elis Records.

From the start, collaborating with Jimena felt natural, even from a distance. We shared many influences and a common vision, yet brought different perspectives and backgrounds to the table. Our partnership happened at a turning point in Jimena’s life—she was leaving Bogotá for Colombia’s Caribbean coast. While we worked on her Aire EP, she spent most of her time in a town called Minca, though she moved several times during the process. I was nearly as nomadic, travelling through the United States and moving house every few months in Lisbon. It was the onset of the 2020 pandemic, and from all that instability and adversity came a spark of creativity.

We focused on some of Jimena’s existing material as well as new music she wrote during our remote collaboration. A diverse roster of musicians and producers contributed to the project, including Berlin-based saxophonist and producer Ben Abarbanel-Wolff (Pat Thomas, Ebo Taylor, Guts), French keys wizard and broken-beat producer Nikitch, Lisbon-based Dutch musician Collignon (formerly of Skip & Die), and Ecuadorian producer Joaquin Cornejo. In Minca, Jimena set up a DIY recording booth using a mattress, a few sheets, and the help of her neighbor. Everything else was captured remotely between Colombia, Lisbon, Quito, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

The Aire EP was finally released on October 16, 2020. The singles “Llamameya” and “Tengo lo que tengo” received significant airplay on major national stations in France, Germany, and Colombia. The story is still unfolding.