Tajo Abierto


Tajo Abierto is the third studio album by Chilean-American singer-songwriter Francisca Valenzuela. The album was released on September 9, 2014 for download and physically in Chile, the United States, Mexico and Spain.
The album features 10 Spanish-language songs and 1 English song.

Production and writing process

The pre-production stages for "Tajo Abierto" began at the end of 2012, when Valenzuela began composing new material. Unlike her previous albums which were produced and recorded in Santiago, Chile, she relocated to Los Angeles, California to work on demos at her home and met with producers in early 2013. This is her first album largely recorded outside of Chile. Valenzuela recorded the album with the help of four producers: Vicente Sanfuentes, Jesse Rogg, Dave Sitek and Áureo Baqueiro. Musically, the album is a departure from Valenzuela's earlier jazz and folk influenced sound. She remarked that the writing and production of the album allowed her to explore other genres and leave her comfort zone. She wrote and composed 25 songs for the album and chose 11 for the final track listing.
The album was recorded in various home recording studios in Los Angeles, with the exception of one song, "Cuequita del corazón", which Valenzuela recorded in Santiago, Chile with her band and a string quartet at Estudios del Sur. After writing "Cuequita del corazón", Valenzuela remarked that she knew she had to record it immediately with her band in Santiago.

Singles

To promote her upcoming album, Valenzuela played Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago's famous Grant Park on August 1, 2014. She also performed in Oakland and Los Angeles, California later that same month. She embarked on mini tour throughout Spain in early September 2014. She debuted the album in its entirely in Mexico City on September 25, 2014. A tour in Chile, after its official presentation, was given for November 2014.
On September 8, 2014, one day before its official release, the Latin American media site, Terra and Spanish-language online music magazine, Noisey by Vice, exclusively streamed the entire album. For the US iTunes store, the song, "Armadura", was offered as an exclusive free download for the "Single of the Week" on September 8, 2014. "Estremecer" was the free "Single of the Week" for iTunes in Mexico, and "Perfume de tu Piel" was the "Single of the Week" for iTunes in Spain.

Release

The album was available worldwide for digital pre-order on iTunes on August 26, 2014. It was the #2 album on iTunes in Chile within hours of its pre-order announcement. The song, Siempre Eres Tú, was given as a free download for pre-ordering the album on iTunes.

Track listing

Release history