There are Marlena (Ana Legazpi and Carolina Moyano) something absurdly out of place that is cool. There is when they sit in a downtown cafeteria painted pink and decked out in gold tinsel with their look urban, all cap, sweatshirt and baggy pants. The Madrid women, aged 26 and 28 respectively, walk along Gran Vía – which they have walked so many times as children – with an anxious and, at the same time, modest step: they are still not used to people stopping them to take photos, although they are delighted. “We could spend hours and hours talking to fans on the street, as if we were colleagues. It costs us much less than responding to comments on Twitter,” they say.
After a summer with more than 30 concerts and festival performances such as the Arenal Sound, the Jardín de las Delicias or the Boombastic, Ana and Carolina inaugurate 2024 with a tour of the main cities of our country: on February 15 they premiere at La Riviera in Madrid, with tickets almost sold out , and on February 23, at the Apolo room in Barcelona. A busy winter that starts in January with the race towards Eurovision at the Benidorm Festfor which they have just presented their proposal, Summer Love– A modern nod to Dany Zuko and Sandy’s romance in Grease.
In the midst of the maelstrom of new Spanish pop, Marlena is clear about her hallmark: not being what a female duo is expected to be. “We are two young women who go on stage looking like men, something quite strange, especially because we are used to seeing more sexualized women, so to speak. Be careful, they are probably very comfortable in that role, each one goes out to act as they want, but it is important that there are more types of artists so that children and adolescents can be inspired and say: ‘Well no, man, I want to be like them. I don’t want to wear heels even body. You know?” says Ana.
They explain that they have received stories of young people who have “come out of the closet” thanks to their example. A large percentage of the eurofans identifies with the LGTBIQ+ collective, and among its ranks are many Marlena followers, people of all ages. “Nothing has been premeditated, I think the best way for things to go well is to do it naturally. It’s true that now It takes a lot to be a champion of a cause.“It’s an easy form of advertising that I can’t stand because many artists don’t even feel it,” says Ana. “But hey, it’s starting to smell. “People realize when it’s not real.”
The two friends studied Business Administration and Architecture -because of the Departures-, although they were always clear that music would end up knocking on their door in one way or another to show them the way. They met at a party, connected, and broke up recording covers between skewers and beers. “We are finally managing to sound like Marlena, to ensure that they don’t say: ‘this sounds like Lola Índigo’ or ‘this sounds like Álvaro de Luna’. We are inviting ourselves to find our musical identity, starting from the very peculiar voice that Ana has,” says Carolina.