Today, Juan Wauters shares “Monsoon”, featuring Homeshake, along with a whimsical, heist-inspired video . “Monsoon” is the fifth single from Juan’s forthcoming album Real Life Situations, out April 30, which also features collaborations with Mac DeMarco, Nick Hakim, Cola Boyy, and more. “Monsoon” features Homeshake’s signature lo-fi R&B beats paired with Wauters’ spirited vocals.
The interplay between genre-hopping eclecticism and earnest, plain-spoken observation makes Real Life Situations come alive. It’s something Wauters is known for, and for all its collaboration, this album could only have been made by him. Mining older songs, phone notes, new material, and snippets from TV and YouTube, he’s crafted an aural document of the year through his eyes. Jubilant choruses and spoken word poetry bleed into city noises and overheard conversations. Real freedom, the album suggests, comes not from gaining control, but from accepting its artifice.
Until recently, Wauters had viewed his solo project as just that – a singular expression of his artistic vision. A trip through Latin America while recording his last album, however, laid the groundwork for a different approach. Inviting local musicians to contribute to the songs he was working on produced a collection unlike any of his previous work, infused with the musical traditions of each country he’d visited. As a result, 2018’s La Onda De Juan Pablo and its follow-up, Introducing Juan Pablo, were Wauters’ most expansive and sonically diverse records to date, tracing both his Uruguayan roots and his travellers’ spirit. On Real Life Situations, he’s channeled this collaborative spirit, lending his chameleonic songwriting to experiments in hip-hop, lo-fi R&B, and deft indie folk.