A staggered beat is flanked by a bittersweet piano melody as we listen in on the first few seconds of “Barcelona Butterflies,” the debut single from singer/songwriter Leni Black, and as endearingly subtle and wholly surreal as these opening bars of the track are, they’re but a drop in the bucket compared to the breathy emotionality that will soon come pouring from our speakers. Black means serious business in this song, and although she’s still discovering the ins and outs of the music business through sheer trial and error, this is a debut that verifies her authenticity and likelihood of having a shot of stardom beyond the recording of her very first single. The studio is the training ground, and here, she proves ready to make pop music her lifestyle.
WEBSITE: https://www.leniblack.com/
There are a number of different ways to attack a harmony like that which we find in the first verses of “Barcelona Butterflies,” but if you’re a vocalist like Leni Black, it makes perfect sense to go a little slow at first – if only to let the audience get swept away in the minute melody before taking our hearts on a real thrill ride. When she wants to, this is a singer who can really let go of everything and break off an amazing lead (as demonstrated on a couple of different occasions in her rookie single), and even though she doesn’t go full operatic in this performance, you don’t have to be an audio expert to appreciate the depth of her skill as it stands today.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2d2fD4kGnkYaCrmk7mybQG
I wouldn’t change any of the cosmetics nor the structural integrities that make “Barcelona Butterflies” the song it is in the version out this October, but I do think it’s teasing a much grander style of performing in Leni Black that would likely only be accessible to us in the live concert setting she was always meant to rule over. She needs just a little more space than the four confining walls of a recording studio can afford her to let the entire world how strong a melody she has a heart, and though we’re getting a decent sampling of that talent in this release, I don’t think we’re going to know how profound it is until she has the chance to take to the stage.
AMAZON: https://music.amazon.com.mx/albums/B08K3T7SS6
“Barcelona Butterflies” concludes the same way that it gets started; with a surreal, fleeting melody that echoes into the ethers for a bit after the music has ceased to play entirely. Rookies aren’t usually the artists you think of when you’re looking for something haunting and emotional, but talented players like Leni Black don’t have any other choice other than to give us exactly what their souls can produce, and I’m mightily pleased with what hers has made here. This is a track that is passionate, sonically stacked and buoyant enough to suggest a lot of good things ahead for its composer, and despite her underground profile, I think Leni Black is the reason it feels like a mainstream hit from beginning to end.
Jodi Marxbury