Ondara Announces New Album 'Spanish Villager No: 3'

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ondara's third studio album, Spanish Villager No: 3, is set for release on September 16 via Verve Forecast. The namesake behind the new album is The Spanish Villager-a mysterious character with a potent message who has proven to be a versatile guy: he's the subject of a short story Ondara wrote and turned into a graphic novel, and now a new album.

Today, Ondara is unveiling the first album single, "An Alien In Minneapolis." Of the song, Ondara explains "Each song on the new album is an exploration into the world and the mind of The Spanish Villager.

Some of them paint a picture of specific scenes from the story while others delve into his psychology. Following the disappearance of SV in the narrative, copies of a newspaper titled The SV Times start appearing in random places in Minneapolis where he is thought to be hiding out. 'An Alien in Minneapolis' refers to this part of the story."

The album is produced by Ondara and Mike Viola (Jenny Lewis, Dan Wilson) with contributions from Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes, Sebastian Steinberg, Tim Kuhl and Jeremy Stacey. The new collection of songs features a much more full, electric sound.

Of The Spanish Villager character, Ondara shares, "he formed himself during some of my darkest times, and as he came to life, he carried in his heart all the anxieties I had about my journey and about this new world I had moved to." Spanish Villager No. 3 channels those feelings into 11 new songs that are at once musically expansive and emotionally intimate.

Of the album, Ondara recalls: "I always feel like I'm walking in the dead of night, darkness as my guide, yielding to the subconscious instincts of the muse. Then at some point as the day breaks, I look back and find that the path behind me has outlined something interesting. That is how this project came together, one blind step after another.

Collectively, I think of the whole project as one epic poem - a subconscious exploration of the world inside and outside me."

Spanish Villager No: 3 follows his 2020 sophomore album, Folk N' Roll Vol 1: Tales of Isolation, and his 2019 debut album, Tales of America, which was released to widespread critical praise, receiving a nomination for Best Americana Album at the 62nd Grammy Awards, and Ondara also received a nod for Best Emerging Act at the 2019 Americana Awards.

Ondara grew up in Nairobi, Kenya listening to American alt-rock and making up his own songs for as long as he can remember. At an early age he fell in love with the music of Bob Dylan and was granted a visa through the immigration lottery system. He chose Minneapolis as his home to pursue a career as a singer and songwriter with Dylan in mind.

He began making his way in the local music scene, continually writing songs about what he saw, felt and experienced in a place far different from home. Ondara has toured extensively including sold out European performances, a completely sold-out headlining U.S. tour, appearances at festivals nationwide including Xponential Festival, Newport Folk Festival and Edmonton Folk Festival, and opened for the likes of The Lumineers, First Aid Kit, Neil Young, The Head & The Heart, and more.

Watch the new music video here: