“Mi Gran Dolor” (“My Great Pain”) is the first single off Silencio (“Silence”), the debut album from Karen y los Remedios. The album was produced by Ana Karen G Barajas and Jiony in a home studio, inspired by the days and feelings of lockdown during the pandemic. Ana Karen and Jiony got together every week to compose as an escape from everyday life. Ana Karen’s lyrics express those daydream emotions and Jiony’s music contrasts with the constant uncertainty. Guillermo Berbeyer later joined the project, weaving guitar licks into the group’s live performances. This is a genre-crossing album, taking in cumbia, lo-fi, dream pop, salsa and electro pop. It is the sum of all these styles that makes Silencio so unique. This first single starts off with cumbia as the main sound and rhythm before taking in a range of sounds and contrasts.

“Mi Gran Dolor” is backed by a video directed by Ana Karen with the help of Alejandra Genco and Christian Moreno of Catorce Fotogramas. The video was produced by Guillermo Berbeyer and Ana Karen in the Presa de la Olla area in the city of Guanajuato, and on the hills of Santa Rosa. The video styling and art was created in collaboration with Romina Ávila, the woman behind the Reenvuelta store. The clothes used in the video are mostly from Ana Karen’s collection of hand-me-downs, including a 1980s body that belonged to a cousin, a corset from a friend’s grandmother, and other accessories. With the photography Catorce Fotogramas helped to tell the story and capture the intention that Karen y los Remedios wanted to get across with this first single.

In the video a metal heart is buried in a secret location in the forest in the hills of Guanajuato. This part of the video symbolizes protecting ourselves, not to be cold to others but rather to become invulnerable to life’s hardships. The other part of the video was filmed in La Casa de la Presa, a very special place for Ana Karen, who did some photographic projects here a few years ago when the house was uninhabited. It is an Art Nouveau house that has undergone some modifications, so Karen has tried to preserve in a visual memory the details and structures that make this place iconic. This style goes hand in hand with the art for Silencio, and cumbia is part of this, with its references to falling in love but always with a realistic outlook and with a dignity balanced between two people, trusting each other but never blindly.

Karen y los Remedios believe cumbia is a style of music whose underlying meaning and beauty can only be appreciated when you are at your most sensitive. Cumbia belongs to everyone. Karen y los Remedios want to dignify this genre and give it a particular voice and sound to establish it as a vital part of a new generation, without losing the essence that makes it timeless.

"This song helped me a lot when I was going through a personal process of being in love and not being happy with what I was giving and receiving back. The mythological concept of someone giving you “the head of the dragon” resonated significantly back then. This means you don’t give everything from yourself to someone until they demonstrate their love is true and you can trust them. Even if the concept sounds romantic, it helped me in that specific moment as a metaphor about giving a chance to a person only if the person was showing real change and commitment. This song is about learning that it doesn’t mean that having a deep connection with someone means that you have to accept everything from them and not ask them to change hurtful behaviors; it is about loving profoundly but not blindly. It is about that precise moment when you are in limbo and are waiting for that change, walking in safe steps and protecting yourself. The video wants to represent protecting feelings and love in a place where only you know where it is, and only you know where it is. It is about self-love."

• Karen

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