After a vital period in Dublin, in 2008 she released “Liffey” under the acronym J.S.T., a compendium of stark and completely acoustic songs that she went on to play in countries such as Portugal and France. After a fleeting moment of fun with The Sofa Dreams, that would become her second and last record as J.S.T, Joana Serrat started a search for herself that would give her greater understanding of her inner self. The first stop on this road to self-discovery was the auto edited double album “The Relief sessions” under her own name.
Intimate and evocative, “The Relief Sessions” goes through different panoramas of the artist’s emotions via numerous sound registers that go from folk pop, to 90s indie rock, country accompanied by a hint of jazz. With this album the singer songwriter attracted more attention from the specialised press as well as from the public, which led to her being nominated as outstanding artist on the American web portal- based in Nashville- Noisetrade, one of her tracks was included in Liliana Torres’s film debut, “Family Tour”, in which she appears playing together with the well-known actress Núria Gago. She also performed at the catwalk of the Catalan fashion brand YERSE at the last edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion.
While achieving all of this Joana Serrat was already creating the new repertoire for her next record. In January 2013 she sent a demo to three prestigious international producers. Two of them replied immediately that they wanted to collaborate on Joana’s new record. She chose Howard Bilerman, Canadian producer and musician, owner of the mythical hotel2tango studios, nominated for a Grammy for his production work on “Funeral” by Arcade Fire and who has also produced; Godspeed You! Black Emperor (winners of the Polaris Music Prize 2013- equivalent to the UK Mercury Prize- awarded to the best Canadian album every year), Vic Chesnutt and Wolf Parade amongst many others.
At the beginning of autumn, a few weeks before recording began, Joana Serrat’s signing to El Segell del Primavera Sound was announced. The new album was recorded in Paco Loco’s studios in Cadiz, with Howard Bilerman. The band made up of illustrious musicians from the Barcelona scene- amongst them Edu Martínez (La Habitación Roja, Pumuky, Partido, Clem Snide) and David Soler (possibly the best pedal steel guitar player of our country) as well as the Canadian Gavin Gardiner, member of The Wooden Sky. The recording sessions were done with the whole band playing the songs live and this has reinforced the authentic sound, which is at times intimate and at other times highly intense. The record that will come out in a few months, was mixed in December in the aforementioned hotel2tango in Montreal, and was mastered by Harris Newman, an experienced sound engineer who has worked with Tindersticks and Arcade Fire themselves.
Pictures
Joana Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And perfection never comes
We hardly have a picture of the two of us
Guilt is all I feel for hiding
Hiding me from myself
You should've kept your promise
The promise we both took at Jarry Park
Why didn't you take me?
Why did you need me to prove?
I always believed in you
And I believed our love was pure
Both naïve and foolishly in love
Gazing the sunset before you part
We were blooming, then fading out
With the light
That's when the fall out starts
Distance now surrounds us
You're trying hard to keep me here
I wanna hang on to the life you spread
But death's where I belong
Why didn't you take me?
Why did you need me to prove?
I always believed in you
And I believed our love was pure
In Joana Serrat's song Pictures, the lyrics delve into the themes of nostalgia, loss, and regret. The opening line, "Always waiting for perfection, and perfection never comes" sets the tone for the rest of the song, as the singer reflects on the past and the idealized version of love and relationships they hoped for.
The second line, "We hardly have a picture of the two of us," speaks to the fleeting nature of memories and how they can fade over time. This is further emphasized in the lines, "Guilt is all I feel for hiding, hiding me from myself", which suggests that the singer may be struggling with their own identity and the role they played in the relationship's demise.
The chorus repeats the lines, "Why didn't you take me? Why did you need me to prove? I always believed in you, and I believed our love was pure." These lines convey a sense of questioning and regret, wondering why the relationship could not have worked out and placing blame on the other person for not living up to their expectations.
Overall, Pictures is a poignant and emotive exploration of love, loss, and the human condition.
Line by Line Meaning
Always waiting for perfection
I have high expectations and I'm always waiting for things to be perfect.
And perfection never comes
Despite waiting for perfection, I realize it never actually arrives.
We hardly have a picture of the two of us
We never really captured our love and relationship in photographs.
Guilt is all I feel for hiding
I'm consumed with guilt for hiding parts of myself from you.
Hiding me from myself
I was hiding my true self from you, but in the end, I was also hiding from myself.
You should've kept your promise
You didn't keep the promise we made to each other.
The promise we both took at Jarry Park
We made a promise to each other at Jarry Park, but it was later broken.
Why didn't you take me?
Why didn't you take me with you when you left?
Why did you need me to prove?
Why did you require me to prove myself to you?
I always believed in you
I always had faith in you and your abilities.
And I believed our love was pure
I thought our love was genuine and untainted.
Both naïve and foolishly in love
We were both inexperienced and foolishly in love.
Gazing the sunset before you part
We watched the sunset together before parting ways.
We were blooming, then fading out
We were once thriving, but now our relationship is deteriorating.
With the light
As the sun sets and the light diminishes, so does our love.
That's when the fall out starts
Our relationship began to unravel and fall apart at this point.
Distance now surrounds us
We're now emotionally and physically distant from each other.
You're trying hard to keep me here
You're making an effort to keep me in your life, even though things aren't the same.
I wanna hang on to the life you spread
I want to hold onto the memories and positivity that you brought into my life.
But death's where I belong
Despite my desire to remain, deep down I know the relationship is dead and it's time to move on.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Joana Serrat
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Granja Gonçalves
Excelente som..Em breve em casa da música 🇵🇹
Jorge Navarro
Excelente! Adoro! Um abraço de Portugal
CLEASINCRO
Preciosa e hipnotizante
mks338
Me llega y me encanta, aire fresco.Camina por la senda del sentimiento . No entiendo el significado del tema, pero con esa voz ya le doy el sentido que necesite.🥰
jorge gimeno lopez
me encanta menuda joyita de tema de lo mejor que he oido este año
morrisonmw
everything that Joana Serrat create is so amazing beautiful
Azim Rizal
I love this! Keep up the good work. From a fan in Malaysia :)
ccyh11
Malaysia fan too! But was wondering where I listened to this.
CLEASINCROMICO
Alcanzando la excelencia, Joana, es preciosa
Vil Il
Thank you for your music!