With a week of firsts, I decided to go with the Spanish band, El Sueño De Morfeo, and their first official album, which is self-titled. The 2005 release seriously caught my eye (or ear) when I first was introduced to the band years ago. They do make you stop and listen.
During my research for the band, I released this was not actually their first album. The band begun a few years earlier under the name Xemá. They were a duet with lead singer,
Raquel del Rosario and guitarist, David Feito. They style was pop infused with Asturian folk music. Asturian folk music comes from Spain’s north-west Atlantic coast with cities such as Galicia and Asturias. The band hails from Asturias, Spain which makes this the music they grew up on. When Juan Luis Suárez joined the band in 2003, they changed the name of the group to El Sueño De Morfeo, which means Morpheus’ Dream.
2005 release seriously caught my eye (or ear) when I first was introduced to El Sueño De Morfeo years ago.
They continued their folk infused pop/rock music with the release of their debut self-titled album in 2005. This time, their folk music happened to come from Ireland and the Celtic rhythms. The band used instruments such as wood-winds, violins, and bagpipes. Many of those same instruments could be heard in Xemá’s album, Del Interior. Raquel’s high strained vocals blend so well with this style of music. They have a unique sound that instantly became a hit in Spain on the pop charts.
Some artists will take the folk music sounds and keep their work traditional, but El Sueño De Morfeo chose to really make sure they were considered a rock band though it leans into an edgier pop blend, in my opinion. During their time as El Sueño De Morfeo, the band released five albums. There doesn’t seem to be any official disband of the group but we have not heard music from the band since 2013.
The album has no bad songs on it and if I were to look at what else was released in 2005, this would definitely be at the top of my favorite albums of the year.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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