A beautiful new song and, and an equally beautiful new video have arrived from JUAN WAUTERS, everyone’s favorite Uruguayan American folk rocker from Queens. Over the last few years I’ve seen Juan become some kind of hero here in Boston. Everyone in Boston loves JUAN WAUTERS. If they say they don’t then they are just lying to your face in order to irrationally protect Juan. A track record populated by all those great records as the leader of THE BEETS, and a great 7″ a ways back, have gotten us very excited for Juan’s first full length solo foray.

N.A.P. NORTH AMERICAN POETRY is a serious mouthful! The album comes out on CAPTURED TRACKS in early February. “Water” is the first song from the new record that we’ve gotten the chance to hear. I’m enjoying the shift of tone toward folk. “Water” is a very gentle song, with a winding melody that even has a little bit of a country feel to it. This guy might just be the troubadour of our times. He can certainly write a beautiful song. I really do love Juan’s songs in a way that I seldom love songs these days. The video for “Water” pairs the existential lyrics and melancholy pop approach of the song with a series of scenes of Juan hanging with older folks, ordering a torta, etc. It’s 5 minutes or so long, but the video has the feel of a documentary short film even at such an abbreviated length. The bookends of lively song bringing people together perfectly frames yet another pop nugget from JUAN WAUTERS. The video for “Water” was directed by vibe maker and Wauter’s personal art director, MATTHEW VOLZ (the guy behind all of that amazing artwork for THE BEETS). I’m going to try to get a hold of this whole album as soon as finish writing this sentence.