Kevin Kaarl Was Inspired by Cesaria Évora’s ‘Yearning’ on Upcoming Album

Kevin Kaarl channels the nostalgia of early Nineties rock on his new single. On Wednesday, the Mexican indie star released “Esta Noche,” on which he reflects on a last kiss with a lover he feels forced to let go. He also announced his new album, Ultra Sodade, inspired by African great Cesaria Évora.

“’Esta Noche’ is a song I started writing months ago, telling the story of a couple right when their relationship ends,” Kevin said in a press release. “The song marks the beginning of the entire album, the start of a complete story.”

Across Ultra Sodade, Kaarl plans to explore the lessons learned at the end of a relationship “with a more mature perspective” on love, as he tells the story of a character who escapes his past to start a new life.

“After facing myriad problems in his personal life, he decides to escape, abandoning the people who love him, including his girlfriend, with whom his relationship was already deteriorating,” Kaarl tells Rolling Stone. “We’ll learn about the consequences of escaping, his yearning for the life he left behind.”

“He becomes consumed by a nostalgia he’ll never overcome, but learns to see his life and the mistakes he made in a mature more way,” he adds.

Kaarl was inspired by Cesaria Évora’s own song “Sodade,” a Morna classic, to name his album. “She is the Queen of Morna, and had a gorgeous song with that name about her own yearning for where she was from,” Kaarl explains. “In São Vicente, where she’s from, so many people had to escape, so she made a song called ‘Sodade.’ It comes from the Portuguese word ‘saudade.'”

“My album isn’t as powerful as Évora’s, but I write about a strong nostalgia that consumes you,” he adds.

Kaarl worked on “Esta Noche” with his brother, Bryan, who first joined him on “Te Quiero Tanto” from Paris Texas. Bryan says he’s excited to work with Kevin full-time on the new music. “‘Esta Noche’ was a work in conjunction,” Bryan tells Rolling Stone. “We tried to balance ourselves, keeping the acoustic guitar which is such his style, but including a dreamier, synthier sound and a moving percussion on the song.”

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The single ushers in the follow-up album to Paris Texas, his third LP, which dropped in 2022. “The album is a story of someone who lost interest in himself and then rediscovered themselves,” he told Rolling Stone of the album at the time. “It makes you feel more human to know that someone who was lost was able to find themselves again.”

Aside from his cover of Piero De Benedictis’ “Mi Viejo” for film El Halcón, “Esta Noche” marks Kaarl’s first solo release of the year. He dropped singles “Me Va a Costar” and “Mis Compas Tan Aquí” last year.