Notion 90: duendita

duendita’s latest single “bio” lulls you into a false sense of security — delicate and meditative, its opening chords invite introspection, layered with rich vocals that feel familiar and arresting all at once. Then the beat comes in.

“bio” is a dance track at its core, but one that aches and questions, delving into existentialism rather than indulging in pure escapism. It’s this the New York-based artist does so well: making music layered with meaning and the unexpected, that has you playing it back to take it in again. It’s embodied in her stage name too, a play on Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s notion of duende: a heightened physical, emotional and sometimes unexplainable response to art.

The track was the first song duendita released on FREEDOM DR, the record label she created with her mum and best friend Sandy. Named after a street in Queens where she grew up, it’s an extension of how the artist views her music — a product and record of conversations with friends and family. “I think of duendita as a band of collaborators across mediums, because it takes a village to create our work from start to finish,” she explains. “The moment I write a song, I send the demo to friends. I collect their input and test the song at shows that we all attend. I edit, resample, record our laughter and place it in the back of the track.”

Anchored in reverence for her ancestors, our planet and the complexities of the human experience, duendita sees her art as an opportunity to not only express but to collect her own experiences — be it through the people she connects with, or the nature she discovers in new places on the road. Currently on tour and planning new shows soon (which means hiking and birdwatching as much as it does playing on stage), her next song “soupie” drops this November before a new EP early next year. Until then she’ll be taking time for herself to recalibrate, comparing her creative process to her love of gardening: “Especially after the pandemic, my plants inspire me to take my time and go at my own pace — with life and art.”