CELEBRATING COSMOVISIÓN
Photos by: Makenzie Creden
Words by: Sydney Williams
Half Gringa’s third album, Cosmovisión, endeavors to confront the existential questions that bloomed from periods of isolation and uncertainty during the last five years for Chicago-based singer/songwriter Isabel Olive. I sat down to talk to Olive about the ways she makes sense of the world, explores her identity, and sets aside space for celebration.
Cosmovisión is a record of self-reflection — of seeing a mirror image when looking internally. Olive described these ideas and their translations to the album to me as “creating something that sounded and felt like a landscape of things, sort of like different representations of duality and transformation.”
Looking internally for Olive meant examining her relationship to her Venezuelan-American culture. On Cosmovisión she embraces her Spanish more fully, which she admitted has always been a goal of hers. Her mother planned to return to Venezuela, leaving Olive with a Spanish that does not necessarily feel intuitive to native speakers. She explored how she would try to phrase things in Spanish versus English, resulting in an approach to her first language that feels unique and completely earnest.
Externally, “Cosmovisión” speaks to worldview. Olive shared her fascination with the vast and unknown nature of the universe we inhabit. It’s horrifying, huge, and fascinating, and mirrors her attempts at making sense of the duality existing within us all.
It’s difficult to recognize the sometimes darker condition of duality without acknowledging the moments of lightness in life. Celebration keeps it fun and serves as a source of inspiration for Olive. She revealed that “What’s the Word” grew from a moment where she found herself stuck in her van in the wrong place at the right time - in the middle of the Puerto Rican Pride Festival.
“I was trying to get out of people's way, but it was all these people who were just shouting at each other from their lowriders and just laughing and having a great time waiting for their turn, and everybody's car looked immaculate. It was such a fun moment to witness.”
In general, Olive loves to throw self-described “weird parties”. The latest idea being one to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice (an idea I was obsessed with). Opportunities to be in community with people, attend shows, and host poker nights all culminate in inspiration and fullness for her.
Equally, if not more important, is finding ways to celebrate one’s own achievements. Releasing Cosmovisión under her label, Teleférico Records, is absolutely an accomplishment worth celebrating. After self-releasing a handful of singles, two EPs, and three records as part of the project of Half Gringa, Olive thought, “maybe it would be interesting to just have something that is more of a unification of all of the things that I make, which is just that. It's just my label.” For those who are rightfully eager for more Half Gringa, Olive is toying with ideas of exploring a songwriting challenge or perhaps choosing a theme that could act as a through-line for further examination across multiple works.
Until she shares more, Olive intends to take a year to bask in the ripples of Cosmovisión. She explained that “the day the record comes out is its birthday. That's the day it's born into the world, so people have from that day until the end of time, until the heat death of the universe, to listen to it.” Olive has released Cosmovisión, and in doing so, releases any imagined outcomes. All she asks of us is to listen with deliberateness and intention.
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