Mexican-Dominican artist Ambar Lucid has dropped her new 7-track EP, El Jardin de Lágrimas (The Garden of Tears).
Known for her emotional, ethereal vocals and dreamy lyrics, Ambar Lucid has made a name for herself through the bilingual single "A Letter To My Younger Self”, which boasts 31 million streams worldwide.
Her newest release is a turning point for Ambar Lucid, as she opens up her psyche for listeners and fans, and brings out her inner vulnerabilities.
Starting off with the short, twinkling “A Stranger Dressed In White,” this track starts with Lucid’s whisper-thin vocals alongside strong but simple percussion, before going into a vibrating bass line. Ambar Lucid dreamily sings she took me far away/her home in 1968/gave me some candy/welcome to your fantasy/I am you and you are me. This first track sets the tone for the rest of the album extremely well – a series of half-awake, hazy dreams is waiting for listeners, and Ambar Lucid is ready to gently guide us through the haze.
The second track, the bilingual single “There Goes My Baby,” is a lovelorn track shot through with an immense amount of pain, perfectly encapsulated through the lyrics there goes my baby / he doesn’t know that he’s my baby. Echoing, finger-picked guitar joins the snares alongside the vocals, with the bass added in a quarter of the way into the track. Lucid largely switches to Spanish lyrics with some English sprinkled in about a third of the way through the track, and the lyric Arrancará mi pobre corazón/si es lo que quieres (it will rip out my poor heart/if that’s what you want) really hits home that on this track Ambar Lucid is angry, and sick of not knowing the full situation she’s in with this person who refuses to love her back.
Third up is “Forest,” which also features Spanish-American singer-songwriter Danny Schiller. More upbeat than the rest of the EP, “Forest” is a sweet melody about wishing for your dreams, exemplified as Lucid and Shiller sing oh the things I would do/I’d take all the light in the world/and give it to you together, alongside a gentle, acoustic guitar melody. Shiller’s solo vocals come in halfway through the track, before Ambar Lucid’s vocals weave back in with his, and they’re a very well-matched tonal pair.
The fourth track, “La Apuesta" (The Bet) is a slow and gentle Spanish-language track that evokes the mood and style of a vintage Latin jazz track, and features a steady background of gentle vocal harmonies and twinkly glockenspiel, evoking a warm, hazy mood, as Ambar Lucid sings que si en esta vida hay suerte, me tocó de la primera/que si en este mundo hay fortuna, tengo de la buena – if there is luck in this life, I got it first/if there is fortune in this world, I have good fortune.
Moving swiftly into the poppy sounds of “I Feel Everything,” the fifth track has a much more straightforward dark-pop sensibility. Even Lucid’s vocals are deeper, stronger and darker on this track, in contrast with the stark instrumentation and boom-bap percussion. Ambar Lucid heartbreakingly croons I feel everything / I feel everything that’s breathing like it’s all so overwhelming the words just have to tear themselves out of her.
Next up, single “6am” is a move back to Ambar Lucid’s more trademark breathy vocals, right up until the chorus where she passionately belts out I wish I would have known / the damage I was doing to my soul / being with somebody who just made me feel alone. The bass work on this track is a lot more prominent, as the (arguably) main instrument on the track.
Finishing up the EP is “Angel,” which opens with beautiful echoing guitars, before sliding gently into Ambar Lucid singing lovingly about a person who may or may not be materially still with her. The whole track feels like a truly longing heartbreak, and really caps off the rest of the album. Ambar Lucid sings how do you so easily give me energy? / Please tell me how you make me feel like you never leave. “Angel”, of all the tracks on this EP, really feels like it was put together in some between-dimension, slower and somehow more soporific in a whole EP that has it in spades.
Overall, El Jardin de Lágrimas is a solid new outing for Ambar Lucid, with strong lyrics and deep emotions that a listener can’t help but be drawn into.
