Bio

“Romanticism is something that will never die,” says Alejandro Fernández, explaining his choice of songs on A Corazón Abierto, his breakthrough recording about lost love, love that is never forgotten and the capacity to always love again. “I’m super, ultra passionate. We’re releasing an album that’s an x-ray of myself. That’s why it’s titled A Corazón Abierto. It was something very honest. Not naked, but something deeper than that.”

The beginning of this story has been told many times.
The boy, barely three years old, is urged onstage to sing alongside his superstar father. The boy has rehearsed his part, he knows it well, but faced with a sea of tens of thousands of faces, he gets frightened.
And for well over a decade he never sings in public again.

What happens next has also been told. The boy grows up, studies architecture, and somewhere down the line discovers that what once terrified him is the only thing that can now satisfy him.

In 1992, Alejandro Fernández released his debut, self-titled album, launching one of the most prolific, successful and memorable careers in Latin music. Since then, the son of legendary ranchera singer Vicente Fernández has done what few progeny of famous parents have ever been able to achieve: He’s followed in his father’s footsteps, but at the same time, he’s carved out his own, separate path, releasing 13 albums and selling more than XX million copies along the way thanks to a magnificent, velvety voice and an unparalleled stage presence. With stage fright long forgotten, Alejandro has even forayed into film, most recently portraying Mexican hero Zapata in the acclaimed film by Oscar-winning director Alfonso Arau (“Like Water for Chocolate).

While most Latin acts talk about crossovers from Spanish to English, Alejandro is one of only a handful of artists that have managed to become a superstar by crossing over from the world of traditional ranchera music to the world of pop. That duality began in 1997 with “Me Estoy Enamorando,” a collaboration with producer Emilio Estefan that sold 3 million copies worldwide and established Alejandro as an international star.
Now, a newchapter is about to be written in Alejandro’s story with the release of A Corazón Abierto (With An Open Heart) his third foray into pop [the second was “Entre Tus Brazos” in 1999] and decidedly, his most personal album ever.

As adventuresome as it is romantic, A Corazón Abierto reunites Alejandro with Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Kike Santander, who penned his greatest hits from “Me Estoy Enamorando.” But it also finds him singing the songs of a bold new generation of songwriters, including Gian Marco (Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan), Leonel García—one half of pop duo Sin Bandera--, Reyli Barba (former member of pop band Elefante) and Mexican group Tres de Copas.

A Corazón Abierto is about love, but it’s hardly a staid album. Quite the opposite. Under the guidance of producers Kike Santander and Aureo Baqueiro (Sin Bandera), the sound of this record is taken beyond the traditional and is an album rich in instrumentation—rippling guitars, flowing strings and mariachi lines—that treads on folk, rock and ranchera elements with organic ease and conviction. The superb emotional and musical interpretations are the clincher. Alejandro sorted through over 100 hundred songs before settling for the final 12 that make up the album.

On one end, Santander sent him some 80 songs, of which Alejandro chose “his most exquisitely written.” They include the opening “Para Vivir,” a song that preserves the romantic Alejandro Fernández identity established in his first two pop albums, but also marks an evolution in sound and delivery. From the opening acoustic guitar to the soaring strings, and finally, to the lone mariachi trumpet that adorns the chorus, “Para Vivir” effectively encompasses Alejandro’s multiple styles and personas in one, gorgeous song.

On the other end of the spectrum is Leonel García’s “Me Dediqué a Perderte,” the first single off A Corazón Abierto. Produced by Aureo Baqueiro, it could almost be called a Mexican bossa nova, with acoustic guitar and percussion intertwining with string lines.
“Qué Lástima,” a conversation between two lovers attempting to fix their broken relationship, further marries traditional Mexican elements with an international pop sound. In the chorus, Alejandro’s plaintive cries of “Qué Lástima” (what a shame), are imbued in the nostalgia of traditional Mexican guitars and guitarrón.

At times exuberant, A Corazón Abierto can also be an album of subtle understatement, unafraid to bare the singer in every sense of the word. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the quietly beautiful “Tengo Ganas,” where Alejandro sings accompanied only by guitar and violin. Only a singer of the highest caliber would dare venture into this feat, much less accomplish it with flying colors.

As for whimsy, it’s there in the lilting “Se Va,” a mix of mariachi, cumbia and South American llanero music brimming over with joy. Similarly, “Canta Corazón,” is almost a folk song spurred on by irresistible percussion and dissolving in an irrepressible chorus that boldly asks the heart to sing, about love. In contrast, “Me Iré” is a soaring ballad, traditional in sound, incomparable in interpretation and feeling and likewise, the heartfelt “Dame Un Minuto” is palpably heart wrenching. “Para Vivir” is quite simply one of those beautifully crafted love songs that’s destined to become a classic

But then again, classics are what make up this album. A Corazón Abierto is one of those improbable recordings where every melody line is memorable; where every song is a potential hit.

In the hands of a prodigious singer, the results are stunning.
Alejandro Fernández is definitely all grown up and the future is his.