Para Llevar

“This is a very nomadic album,” says Johnny Delaware. “I recorded it in studios at home in Mexico City and on the road in the United States and in hotel rooms all across Latin America.” It makes perfect sense, then, that Delaware would call his new collection Para Llevar, which translates roughly as “to go” or “to take.” Drawn from Delaware’s years of journeying-both physically around the world and internally to find himself-the record blends elements of Laurel Canyon and Latin America with dreamy, psychedelic production to forge a mesmerizing cultural swirl that transcends borders and traditions. Delaware produced the record himself in addition to playing nearly all of the instruments, and the result is a deeply personal exploration of human nature through the eyes of an itinerant observer, an intoxicating meditation on the doubt and hope and fear and love and loneliness that bind us all, no matter where we call home. Born and raised in South Dakota, Delaware spent his 20s drifting around the US before eventually landing in Charleston, SC, where he recorded his 2013 debut, Secret Wave. The record earned glowing reviews, but it was another Charleston project Delaware helped co- found, Susto, that soon took center stage, garnering raves from Rolling Stone and Spin and landing tour dates with the likes of The Lumineers, Band of Horses, and The Head and the Heart. After moving to Mexico City, Delaware relaunched his solo career with 2022’s similarly well-received Energy Of Light.