an introspective album to dance to in the disco

Since he left his country, music was a political commitment, not just an artistic one. Album after album, he has claimed the sounds of Latin American ‘dembow’, reggaeton, pop and dancehall, releasing hits like ‘Mónaco’, ‘Fuera del mercado’ and ‘Dembow’, which have already achieved more than five hundred thousand views on Spotify . At the same time, he has made it clear that he thinks about his country, that the crisis he is experiencing hurts him and that, like him, there are thousands of Venezuelans willing to contribute the best of themselves in other parts of the world.

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He currently has 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and in his profile he highlights ‘REFLEXA’ in capital letters, along with an announcement to “listen to it now.” In an interview with EL TIEMPO, Daniel Alejandro Morales Reyes, better known as Danny Ocean, talked about his new album: the recording process and the chosen theme.

The album has many references to astrology, in fact, one song is called ‘Taurus and Pisces’, where does your interest in these topics come from? Do you believe in astrology?

I don’t follow horoscopes much, nor astrology, but I respect them. There are many things that I have come to agree on because I notice interesting patterns that relate to the stars and people. But, I included it, above all, because astrology is something that is already part of our daily lives. In flirting you can start by saying “hey, what sign are you?”, and start making jokes, start finding compatibility, common tastes, which are not necessarily related to astrology, but it is the topic that allows you to connect with the other. It’s a good conversation, a way to break the ice.

At the release of the album you said that there are songs that you wrote thinking about yourself, that are dedicated to you.

There is a song called ‘Amor’, and it is a clear example of what you are asking me. In that song I’m asking for self-love, self-compassion. I see many people fighting to be loved, asking to be loved, begging for that love, but for who they are, not because others want them to be. I connect a lot with that battle. Another one that happens to me is ‘Universal Law’, I made it thinking that what is for me will be for me no matter what, and I have to learn to trust and be patient.

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It is not easy to do a process of introspection and then release it to the public.

Actually, it hasn’t been difficult for me. They are topics that I connect with and in the end I say “this is something that happens to all of us.” Art is an inspiration, I watch movies and hear phrases that I identify with, I go on the plane, I see some clouds, I take a photo of them and I get inspired, I start thinking about everyday things. That’s what music is also about, being able to give people something that inspires them, that makes them reflect, just as other things make me reflect.

Is there any song that was left out of the album?

About forty. (Laughs).

Because?

When making an album, the concept of the album is important, both in sound and narrative. We wanted European electronic influences and also Latin American influences, a global sound. And the theme of the songs had to go with ‘Reflexa’, with looking at yourself, with introspection. The ones that didn’t come out will probably be put in another project. As an artist, you work on several things in parallel with different visions that you have, it is normal.

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You talk about European and Latin American influences, what were they?

We traveled to Stockholm, London, the United States, Mexico and Bolivia to work with producers from each of those countries. Danny Ocean’s sound was a little slow and fluid, and he wanted to break away from that, he wanted it to be more uptempo and uptempo. It was still strange, because you never know what you are looking for, it just comes to you. He made so many songs that in the end a universe was created, with my team we were able to capture and package it: it is electronic, it is danceable, it is introspective, it is personal.

That is, the album was made in the middle of the tour in which he toured Latin America and Europe, in 2023.

Yes. The truth is that I am always making a lot of songs, but I am more of an album artist than singles. There are concepts that stay in my mind for years, but it is difficult for me to land because they are very personal and the idea is that my work is not so abstract. It’s like playing a puzzle blindly, you have a concept, songs, but you have to know how to arrange them so that the whole work fits together. Sometimes that doesn’t happen until the end when all the arrangements of the melody are in place. There are songs I made for ‘Reflexa’, thinking about ‘Reflexa’, but then I realized they didn’t fit.

What are the criteria to define whether or not a song meets the concept of the album?

For example, ‘Universal Law’ is a track I’ve been working on for four years. This means that it took me four years to finish the lyrics and find the perfect melody, that was danceable and that the lyrics reflected that law of attraction, the message of patience and trust, but without losing the fast rhythm. It was all because one day, in London, the producer and I had been perfecting the track for hours, but it wasn’t working, we didn’t understand each other. In the end, he was mixing, I told him: “come, let’s not waste any more time, I think that with this melody you have, it flows”, and that’s how it was.

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The album was well received by their fans upon release, however, it is undeniable that they still have a special connection with ‘Me rehúso’. Almost eight years have passed and they are still asking for it and singing at the top of their voices. How do you feel about that?

It would be very foolish of me to complain about the song that gave me everything I have. ‘Me rehuso’ was a stage of pleasure for me, seeing that people connected with the song and gave it their own meaning of goodbyes. I understand that there are artists who end up getting annoyed with the songs, but from my perspective, that is not fair, it is selfish. Rejecting a song that the universe sent you especially for you, so that you could flourish, is an ungrateful act.

Now there is a tour to present the album live. What changes when presenting the songs?

It’s a game to be on stage, it’s something magical. I receive energy from people, they recharge me, and in some way, I recharge them. It’s what I call ‘flow in real time’, I’m no longer in the studio, now I can see people’s reaction, and that’s always exciting.

He has never given a concert in Colombia.

Just today I was talking about it with my manager. I hope that changes very soon, we are going to work on that because every time I come to launches they give me a lot of love. I don’t understand why it took us so long, I admit that I had not realized this and the passage of time, (laughs).