Hecho En Tiempos De Paz
Viva Suecia's fifth studio album, Hecho En Tiempos De Paz (Made in Times of Peace), is a profound declaration that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but a fierce, deliberate state of being—a sanctuary built on the foundations of passion, human connection, and a rebellious refusal to surrender to external chaos. Released in 2025, the album arrives as a mature, yet fiercely energetic statement from one of Spain's leading rock acts, skillfully marrying the band’s signature expansive, wall-of-sound rock with a newfound lyrical intimacy and a powerful thematic core. The title itself is an immediate and deliberate paradox, which the band has openly acknowledged: the music was created in a self-imposed "absolute peace" while yearning for and protesting against the visible "horror" of the outside world. This tension between internal serenity and external struggle is the engine that drives the album’s emotional and sonic complexity.
The album immediately establishes its emotional stakes through its evocative lyrical imagery. Songs like the pre-released single "Querer" (To Want/To Love) reveal a declaration of total emotional surrender, escalating from an intimate rock ballad to a sprawling anthem powered by distorted guitars and soaring synthesizers. This is a common structural motif across the album: a quiet, vulnerable beginning that erupts into the band’s characteristic épica (epic quality). The power in these tracks lies in the vulnerability that precedes the sonic explosion, suggesting that the deepest human needs—love, connection, and peace—are the very things that give one the strength to face the world.
A recurring, essential theme in Hecho En Tiempos De Paz is the idea of finding and holding on to a place of refuge. The track "Deja Encendida Una Luz" (Leave a Light On) crystallizes this concept. Lyrically, it speaks to a deep, unbreakable bond, an emotional lifeline: "If I crumble, you leave a light on." This phrase is more than romantic; it’s existential, reflecting a shared human need for a reliable guide out of "dark times." The song’s direct, catchy melody and singalong quality turn this private plea into a communal, rallying cry, suggesting that this kind of peace and salvation is available through shared experience and mutual support.
This search for internal peace is directly contrasted with a defiant, collective resistance against "gente normal" (normal people) and the established order. The track of the same name, "Gente Normal," is one of the album’s most explicitly combative moments. With lines like, "You don’t need to agree with normal people, fighting suits us well. We are an army," the song transforms introspection into solidarity. The peace the band seeks is not passive resignation; it is an active choice, a struggle for authenticity, and a call for a unified front of people who refuse to be complacent. It suggests that the path to a better world starts with recognizing the "extraordinary" people who dare to fight the status quo. The music provides the soundtrack for this "army"—urgent, driving, and infused with a controlled rock fury.
Sonically, the album successfully broadens Viva Suecia’s imaginary without losing their identity as a national rock powerhouse. Their music remains built upon a massive "wall of guitars" and a dramatic use of dynamics, but they incorporate new textures. The collaborations on the record, such as with Siloé on "Sangre" and Hoonine on "Tú y Yo Contra Los Demás" (You and Me Against Everyone Else), demonstrate a willingness to infuse their sound with slightly different rhythms and melancholic shadings, proving they can connect with different facets of the Spanish pop-rock scene while affirming their own signature sound. Tracks like "Dolor y Gloria" (Pain and Glory) are cited as instantaneous successes, with a cinematic quality that hints at the profound, complex beauty of life's painful yet beautiful moments, much like the Pedro Almodóvar film referenced in the title.
Ultimately, Hecho En Tiempos De Paz is a celebration of what the band calls "vivencia" (lived experience)—the raw, unexpected adventure of being alive in a chaotic world. The album is a full-throated commitment to emotion, to the idea that intense feeling—whether it be love, rage, or melancholy—is the purest form of peace. The closing track, "Melancolía," featuring Samuraï, offers a beautiful, almost comforting resolution. It’s an embrace of melancholy not as a failing, but as a valid, even salvational, emotion. By ending with this acceptance, the album suggests that true peace is not constant happiness, but the brave acceptance of the full spectrum of human feeling.
In an era of relentless noise and digital fatigue, Viva Suecia’s album is a compelling argument for the power of the rock anthem as a means of internal refuge and external protest. They have constructed an urgent, yet calm, musical sanctuary. Hecho En Tiempos De Paz is a reminder that the most revolutionary act is to passionately live, love, and create, transforming the utopia of "peace" into a concrete reality that can be shared and sung at full volume.
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