Chilean-born, Dublin-based artist-producer Vaticanjail releases new single ‘MIEL’ on June 27th, inviting her audience to enter a world of whimsical motion through the reflective narrative of a coming of age story. ‘MIEL’ blends alternative electronic, reggaeton, and alternative latin, where playful arrangements, sampling absurdism, and sweet, layered vocals play a key role in sculpting a space where listeners can enter a new dimension.
Inspired by the tale of a third-culture soul, one split between geographical spaces that yet always comes back to the feeling of longing for belonging, Vaticanjail creates a mesmeric track that shrouds the psyche in a captivating atmosphere through absurdism, depicting the realisation: that home is wherever your memories are. Soft, reggaeton rhythmic elements, salsa sampling, and verses in spanish, aim to illustrate the Chilean heritage of Vaticanjail, while the electronic fusion and BPM acceleration over lush chord progressions and lyrics in English, aim to amplify ties Vaticanjail holds for the second culture she shares in Ireland. Whilst most of the stylistic traits chosen for the arrangement and instrumentation depict the latin footprint in the song, the narrative is inspired by Sean-nós storytelling, portray a clue to Irish recognition, incorporating anecdotes from the artist’s life encapsulated in a playful timeline dating all the way back to adolescence to young adulthood.
Speaking on the single she says ‘Having moved to Ireland at 14 years old from Chile, I feel as if the bones of my story are a misty memory of South America, whilst the flesh is all Ireland, and Dublin specifically; my love for both makes up the soul of the context I grew up in. I wanted to depict the inner fight that we undergo as immigrant children to locate our voice, given that that journey took years to find comfort in, I wanted to tell the story of everything that happened in the course of finding my identity, all the friends I made, the heartbreak, the life lessons;Sean Nós narrative and storytelling made perfect sense to be the vehicle for the message, yet the atmosphere I aimed to create was driven by latin style and rhythms.’
Inspired by the music of Nathy Peluso, Rosalia and Hozier, this track was written as a love letter to Chile and Ireland, and for all the people with a heart that has learned to love more than one city and call more than one place home.
Vaticanjail is currently working on her debut EP to be released later in 2025 and you can find her at Feile Na Greine, Limerick on August 16th; Live Art Ireland in North Tipperary on August 8th; and Clash at the Quays II: LokoMania at the Complex Dublin on September 6th.