Daymé Arocena Alkemi

Afro-Cuban star Daymé Arocena releases her new album 'Alkemi' today via Brownswood Recordings. The new single "Por Ti" is accompanied by an official music video directed by Joshpapi. A spirit of defiance and body positivity is expressed in the video, as Dayme is dancing joyfully in a variety of settings. “As a kid, I was fascinated with learning new dance moves, but I allowed society to get the better of me,” she admits. “People would tell me that I was chubby and therefore should limit myself to traditional folk dances. I worked with a choreographer on this video, and ignored everything I was told that I couldn’t do. I’m facing this issue from a perspective of conscience and adulthood. Less complaining, and more action.” "Por Ti" follows the recent single "A Fuego Lento" featuring Latin GRAMMY-winner Dominican artist Vicente Garcia. Dayme shares that she started writing the song a long time ago but didn't feel ready to finish it until she found love that made her feel comfortable with her own sensuality. "'A Fuego Lento' is another of the many old and unfinished songs hidden in my songbook," Dayme explains. "It wasn't until I found a love that made me feel sensual and spiritually full, that I could finish it and, thus, break with the internal and inherited taboos to fully enjoy the joy of being the woman I am, and with all my cracks and scars build my armor." Daymé's new album 'Alkemi' (Brownswood Recordings) is her first album since 'Sonocardiogram' in 2019. When Daymé decided to switch gears and record her fourth studio album in Puerto Rico with the multiple Grammy award-winning producer, Eduardo Cabra (Calle 13), she never imagined that she would end up moving there. “From the moment I stepped foot on the island, I realized that I never wanted to leave,” says the 31-year-old Cuban singer/songwriter with a hearty laugh. “At the time, I had spent three years away from Cuba, living in Canada with my husband. I called and asked him to come over to Puerto Rico, and to please bring all my stuff. It wasn’t a conscious decision on my part. It was simply love at first sight.” Relying on instinct and intuition is how Daymé has managed her career since she burst on the international scene with 'Nueva Era,' her prodigious debut album, in 2015. Now, she has fully reinvented her sound with 'Alkemi,' a revolutionary – and transformative – fusion of neo soul singing, Afro-Caribbean beats and slick new millennium pop. The album is titled 'Alkemi' with the Yoruba word for alchemy. "It means the cosmovision of transformation," she explains. "It is mixing all the elements to achieve an unbeatable result, full of shine and light, like gold springing from the skin." From the cosmopolitan smoothness of lead single “Suave y Pegao” – an effortless fusion of jazz, bossa nova and urbano stylings with reggaeton star Rafa Pabön on guest vocals – to the smoldering neo-soul of “A Fuego Lento," Daymé’s latest album relies on sacred formats of the past but rearranges them in a conscious quest to redraw the very definition of what Latin pop is supposed to sound like. “It was definitely a team effort,” she reflects from her new home in San Juan. “Flexibility may well be my biggest virtue. I’m always open to every possible suggestion when it comes to making things better. My piano player, Jorge Luis "Yoyi" Lagarza, and I worked on the demos with the rest of my band. Then with Eduardo Cabra’s direction, we enlisted musicians from all over the Caribbean – Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic. Everybody added their energy and coloring.” It was Daymé’s piano player who originally suggested she contact Eduardo Cabra known for combining commercial aptitude with a refined sense of craftsmanship. Not only did Cabra accept the singer’s offer, but he also invited her to stay at his home during the five months when they recorded 'Alkemi' in his Puerto Ri