One of Fonseca’s artistic goals was to record a song with Juan Luis Guerra. But he knew that he could not propose any little song to the celebrated Dominican bachatero.
“I knew that I had to find the right song to make that approach,” acknowledged Fonseca, whose name is Juan Fernando. “It was always clear to me that I had to find that world in which Juan Luis would say, ‘well, I feel part of that same space’”.
One day, while he and a couple of collaborators were writing the first sentences of what would become “Si tú me quieres”, Fonseca had a hunch that this was the song in which Juan Luis Guerra’s voice would fit perfectly. He sent the theme to the Dominican artist and I wait patiently.
The answer came “relatively quickly” with a yes in between. From that moment to the release date, which was a few days ago, a full year passed.
“In my songs I always get deep into the music and the details,” said the Colombian singer who already has a 20-year career. “But in this one it had the ingredient and the pressure —in the good sense of the word— of a special responsibility, and that’s why it was a song that kept changing; I was adding some things”.
This new cut will be part of the album that Fonseca is preparing for the end of the year. While that is happening, he continues with his Viajantes tour, which will begin in June in Houston and will cover ten cities in the country; it will then be presented in theaters in Spain, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom.
By the time the tour ends, in October, Fonseca estimates that his album will already be finished. Over the course of the next few months he will be releasing more singles.
“The album is very advanced at the songwriting level,” he said. “Production not so much; We’re going to see when it’s going to be the time for the next album, but it won’t be long because I’m progressing at a very good pace, and I’m at a time when creativity is very buoyant”.
For now it is his turn to live the moment of collaboration with Juan Luis Guerra. It is a moment that, in addition to celebrating, Fonseca enjoys as if he were a child with a new toy.
“Seeing the result is very exciting,” he said. “Nowadays, [Juan Luis Guerra] He says he’s very proud of this song, that he loves being a part of it.”