La Bien Querida

Ana Fernandez-Villaverde first gained attention on the Spanish indie circuit in 2007 when her demo, recorded with the help of Horacio Nistal under the name La Bien Querida (which, roughly translated, means "the well-loved"), won Mondo Sonoro magazine's annual demo competition. Fernandez-Villaverde was signed to Elefant Records the following year, and she rounded out 2008 playing a handful of live shows and working on the songs that would appear on her debut full-length. The resulting album, 2009's Romancero, produced by Beef's David Rodriguez, comprised of elegant indie pop tunes graced with a hint of flamenco, nodded to artists like Club 8, Rose Melberg, and California Snow Story. Working again with Rodriguez as collaborator, Fernandez-Villaverde returned in 2011 with her follow-up LP, Fiesta. With album number three, the duo underwent a tonal shift, blending dark synth-pop, post-punk, and disco on 2012's Ceremonia. Following a 2015 collection of three maxi-singles called Premeditación, Nocturnidad y Alevosía, La Bien Querida offered up the more stylistically diverse Fuego in 2017. ~ Timothy Monger