Jarabe de Palo - En la vida conocí mujer igual a la Flaca [2LP Spain Import]

Jarabe de Palo's En la vida conocí mujer igual a la Flaca gathers two decades of Pau Donés' songs onto a double LP imported from Spain, and it opens with the one that started it all.

The Barcelona band broke through in 1996 with "La Flaca," a sultry, swaying ode to a woman unlike any other, and its most famous line gives this collection its title. From there Donés built a catalog that blended Spanish rock with flamenco, Cuban and Caribbean colors, all carried by the warm, raspy voice of a born storyteller.

Alongside "La Flaca" you get "Depende," his shrugging, philosophical hit about how everything depends on where you stand, and the sunny optimism of "Bonito." Later cuts bring friends into the room, with Ketama, Jorge Drexler and Alejandro Sanz all stopping by, the last of them on the heartfelt duet "La Quiero a Morir."

The arrangements move easily between acoustic intimacy and full-band swagger, but the common thread is Donés himself, a songwriter who never lost his sense of joy or his eye for small, human details.

Donés died in 2020, which gives this collection a warmth tinged with farewell. For anyone who grew up with these songs, or is just discovering them, it's the essential Jarabe de Palo on the turntable.