Andrea Echeverri

Hailing from Colombia, Andrea Echeverri rose to prominence as the frank frontwoman of the Grammy-winning Latin alt-rock and trip-hop band Aterciopelados. As a Latina performer she evades expectations by favoring the style of Cat Power over Christina Aguilera. Despite the piercing feminist edge and rebellious streak she displayed when, at Aterciopelados’ formation in 1990, the tattooed and pierced singer startled her traditional homeland with a track declaring she would not sacrifice her figure to motherhood, her singing is prized for its enveloping warmth and purr. The band’s name, taken from a Simone de Beauvoir poem and meaning “the velvety ones,” signals the intellectual and socially aware outlook she shares with her Aterciopelados partner Héctor Buitrago. Their recordings shift between folk and funk, blending North African hippie grooves with electronica while setting traditional Latin textures against American pop and rock. That eclectic approach brought Echeverri and Buitrago wider U.S. attention after the 2001 release of the widely praised Gozo Poderoso. Although the group remained an active touring act in 2005 with further recordings planned, Echeverri exercised her independent streak by issuing a solo album that year. Word of Andrea Echeverri circulated swiftly, the prevailing view being that the record might be the sexiest set about motherhood ever made. Thematically split into sections called “From the Cradle” and “From the Bed,” it first explores her connection to her two-year-old daughter, then turns to the satisfactions of raising a child with a committed partner. A breastfeeding song in the opening half incorporates the bright jingle-jangle of nursery toys before giving way, in the second half, to a calm tribute to long-term familial love. That the material is sung in Spanish did little to deter her English-speaking listeners. Acclaim for the album’s lushness and freshness arrived from every direction, accompanied by hopes that more solo work would follow.