Susana Amador Santiago, La Susi, from Alicante, made a name for herself in the seventies and eighties with the kind of flamencoized song based on the rhythm of bulerias or tangos popularized by the genius Camarón, and which continues to be so popular in today’s flamenco. This is still the formula employed in Aguas de mayo which, together with Grandes éxitos published by her previous recording company earlier this year, have put La Susi back in circulation in the recording industry...melodic songs with repeated choruses sung by a men’s chorus with the rhythmic backup of bass and percussion.

The CD contains a song which, by all indications, seems destined to become what it set out to be, a great media success. It’s a ballad to tango rhythm called Amar por amar although the title chosen for the first single is El tarro de las esencias, a pseudo-arabic tango which opens the record (you can hear it in the MP3 section of these pages). The strength of Amar por amar resides in its catchy chorus, reinforced by an orchestral arrangement which the interpreter criticizes in one of her interviews. Susi is a singer whose main strength and natural venue is the stage, so the authorship of Agua de mayo must also be attributed to the producer/composer Manuel Ruiz Queco.

It’s precisely this type of intimate song, with sentimenal touches in content and interpretation, that is this record’s forté, and by extension, Susi’s as well. This can be seen in songs like Corazón de plata or the title song of the record which is por bulerias, or Noche oscura, an alegrías, although in the latter case, the chorus is perhaps not so showy, and Susi’s cante is better appreciated when she adheres to a traditional melodic line. This singer’s voice is eminently festera, but it contains a certain element of tragedy that comes from her intense vitality, and from a certain undercurrent of existential suffering, tinged at times by the sweetness of the strings which on this record occasionally provide solemn drama.

Among the musicians who take part on the record, worthy of note are the clear creative bass of Carles Benavent, one of the most recognizeable sounds in contemporary flamenco, and the guitar of the youthful Diego del Morao, Moraíto’s son, who shows the qualities which have been the banner of the Jerez dynasty of guitar-players to which he belongs: equal parts precision and discretion, at every moment assuming the responsibility of complementing the cante which takes center stage.

Agua de mayo closes with a taranto in the classic vein, where La Susi demonstrates that it would be a mistake to typecast her voice stictly in the festero range. Which would be no small thing in the case at hand.