‘Euphoria’ way to narrow differences between regions: Enrique Iglesias (Interview)

MUMBAI - Spanish pop icon Enrique Iglesias hopes his first album in three years, “Euphoria”, which has both Spanish and English songs, will narrow differences between regions.

“The USP of ‘Euphoria’ is that it has both English and Spanish songs. It’s a great way to narrow the differences between regions by bringing these two languages in one,” Iglesias, 35, told IANS in an email interview from Miami.

“I think using the two languages made the album more eclectic. With the album I have been able to put one language against the other.

“Earlier, what I would do when I was making an album in English I would strictly write in English, when I was making an album in Spanish I would strictly write in Spanish and concentrate on that.”

“Now, what I did is I would write a song in Spanish and I felt good about it, I would say to myself ‘OK, now I’ve got to write a better song in English, and vice versa,” he added.

“Euphoria” is the ninth and the first bilingual album by Iglesias, who came to India last year and is “dying to come back”.

The 35-year-old has collaborated with artists like Akon and Usher among others in “Euphoria”. When asked about the experience, the singer said: “Oh, it was a great experience.”

“The cool thing about this album is that most of the collaborations were pretty spontaneous, very organic and by that what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t think of the collaborations until the song was written.

“Usher and I had been speaking for quite some time, actually a bunch of years, and we’re friends, and we said, ‘OK, it would be cool if we could collaborate.’ Finally it came about. The one with Akon, it was a funny story because I was in the studio and Akon went by and he listened to the song and was like, ‘Let me jump on the second verse.’ It wasn’t planned,” he added.

In the past, the singer has been famous for songs like “Bailamos”, “Hero”, “Be With You”, “Rhythm Divine”, “Escape” and “Addicted” among others.

Throwing light on the songs in “Euphoria”, the pop star revealed that the tracks are melody-driven.

“I’m so melody-driven, I think that melody’s extremely important. Obviously it’s melody, lyrics and the production; it’s a combination of those three. But I love a good melody, and I feel like the simpler the song, the more difficult it is to write,” he said.

The singer’s last album “Insomniac” came in 2007. Why did he decide to name his next “Euphoria”?

“It’s difficult for me to be enthusiastic about the record and maybe it’s because I’ve written so many songs or I’ve done so many albums.

“That’s why I called this album ‘Euphoria’ because I feel like I was able to find four or five magical moments, euphoric moments that truly made me happy and made me enthusiastic about the album,” informed the crooner.

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at ruchika.k@ians.in)