How do we process grief? How do we go on after tragedy strikes? How do we heal? These are key questions that have shaped Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada’s second studio album Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, which translates to “Soft Rains Will Come”. She takes inspiration from the 1918 poem There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale, which explores the strength and quiet hope for the future following a loss.
The album is beautiful and devastating. Completely self-produced, it marks Estrada’s own personal journey of healing after a series of struggles and tragedies, including a serious spinal injury and the murder of her best friend and his brother in their home in Mexico City. Vendrán Suaves Lluvias is full of vulnerability and contradictions, moving with tentative steps back towards the light with hints of hope and tenderness.
‘Cada Día Te Extraño Menos’ centres around the pain after a breakup, Estrada lamenting how difficult it is to move on, the melancholy of the lyrics contrasting the warmth of the instrumentation and Estrada’s little laugh that sneaks into the song. Quieter and more introspective, ‘Tregua’ is torn between wanting to forget and longing to return to how things were before the two lovers fell apart. Anger, frustration, and defiance swirl through multiple tracks as Estrada processes her pain.
‘Dime’ meditates on rage as a transformative force, the rich Mexican lift from the strings and triumphant brass backing layering over Estrada’s anger to become something more hopeful, like light bursting through the darkness of adversity. ‘Lila Alelí’ dances through the lyrics with an infectious Latin beat, Estrada looking rejection square in the eye like a boxer in the ring.
‘Good Luck, Good Night’, in which Estrada impassions her listeners with a distinct Édith Piaf energy, bursts with determination to paint an ex-lover in their true colours, reveal them as a fraud, and move on. ‘El Alma Mía’ turns inwards, the singer ruminating almost hypnotically on the anguish of a love wasted on someone who doesn’t see her worth. ‘Flores’ is a beautiful, deeply passionate song in which Estrada pleads with her lover to end her torment and decide whether their love is doomed or has a chance. The gorgeous cinematic swell of the strings feels like a deep breath, a gathering of strength to face the pain.
In contrast, the gentle ‘Como Un Pájaro’ and ‘No Te Vayas Sin Saber’ both mourn a love lost, but at the same time envelop the listener in a warm musical embrace, lifting the spirit through a luminous string backing. Hope creeps in, floating above us like the eponymous bird, accompanying the cello line with a melodic whistle.
The most heartbreaking track on the album is ‘Un Rayo de Luz’, a tribute to the murdered Jorge and Andrés Tirado. In it, Estrada mourns their loss, her grief visceral, the strings rising in waves as though threatening to overwhelm us. Particularly poignant are the words of the late Chavela Vargas, woven beautifully into the song: “How beautiful death must be that nobody has returned from it yet”.
Vendrán Suaves Lluvias is a form of musical and personal rebirth for Estrada, finding her voice again after the silence of grief. And it is her gift to us, to remind us that even the darkest night will end. In her own words: “I made it, above all things, with absolute love and total dedication. And I hope that after listening to it, you can trust that the soft rains will come. That peace and joy will return. That hope will bloom again.”