Lalo Lopez Lalo Malo

System Error We started with enthusiasm, because with enthusiasm and effort everything was possible. We were that young but well-prepared generation that was going to take the world by storm. And we work, and we work, and we work, because art, culture, creativity, do not know schedules. Meritocracy and talent were our gods. Just do it. But the years passed (passed), and the success, the stability, the recognition, they never finished (they just) arrived, we never finished arriving. On bad days, we blame ourselves: we're not good enough, we don't make good decisions, we don't try hard enough. On good days, lucidity reminds us that talent is good, but also contacts, money, time and having the privilege of making mistakes, and little by little, the illusion turns into disenchantment. And what remains of that enthusiasm coexists with frustration and precariousness, just as anger coexists with that hope that refuses to disappear. Lalo Malo is the product of that anger, but also of that hope. Lalo Malo strips naked and confronts us with his (our) failures: professional, personal, social, political, economic. Because we need to face those failures in order to move forward. And between modesty and identification, understanding and anger, Remedios Zafra, and Antonio Machado, and Marina Garcés, and César Rendueles, and Mark Fisher, and David Harvey and so many, many others resonate; the voices of those who have stopped to analyze their experience and context, and who tell us that we are missing the mark and that our failures are not only ours, they are failures of the system, of a system (of a city, of a country, of a capitalist, individualist, neoliberal model that makes us devour each other, that devours us and devours itself. Against all odds, here we are, standing. Shaking off failures over and over again. Using any tool at our disposal to keep moving forward. Lalo Malo is, therefore, a triumph. And a hope for change. (Carmina Gustrán, cultural agitator)

Lalo Malo is a sound survival manual composed and written by Lalo López, and produced by Jordi Picazos. All the songs have been sung and played on guitar by Lalo López. The music has been made by Jordi Picazos on guitars, mandolins and keyboards, Hector Moras on bass, Dani Martí on drums and Ernest Martínez on percussions. Manu Davobe has played “Cruel” on the piano, and Francesc Chaparro has played the waterphone on “Perros” and the two parts of “La Ciutat”. Joan Vigo has put the double bass on “Blues de la Miseria”. Yasmina Azlor and Claudia Steccato have performed the backing vocals. The album has been recorded at Nación Funk Estudios, Barcelona by Miguelito Superstar, who has also mixed it with Jordi Picazos.