'TINI TINI TINI' finds the Argentine singer collaborating with Alejandro Sanz, John C and Mau y Ricky.
Had all gone according to plan, Martina ‘Tini’ Stoessel’s new album would’ve arrived in May 2020. Fans of the Argentine singer were eagerly awaiting the follow-up to her 2018 album, Quiero volver. But, as with many planned 2020 releases, Tini’s third album was pushed back when pandemic-related lockdowns affected the record’s launch.
Arriving close to six months later, TINI TINI TINI serves now as a closing chapter to what’s been an unprecedented year for the “Fresa” singer. Thinking of it as a testament and a chronicle of her growth, the 23-year-old singer sees her titular (times three) album as a way to celebrate the many facets of her own musical persona.
“Truth is, this album took a long time,” she told ET in an interview in Spanish, shortly after the album’s release. “For over a year and a half so many things happened in my life. It was a time of immense growth, both personal and professional. A lot of these songs were born in the midst of all this craziness, so I really think of the album as literally tracking all of that growth.”
A winking nod to one of the most memorable moments from “Fresa,” her hit collaboration with Lalo Ebratt, TINI TINI TINI embodies three different versions of the young performer, who found early fame as the lead of Disney Channel’s teen telenovela, Violetta. Just as she’s been finding ways of letting her music grow and mature alongside her, this newer album handily shuttles between her pop sensibilities, her penchant for urban sounds, and, of course, her love of emotional ballads, at times mixing and matching them on any given song.
“The album has a lot of variety and all kinds of sounds,” she shared. “You know, I don’t wake up every day feeling any one way. I don’t want to do the same thing every day. I don’t listen to the same kind of music, or even the same kind of genre, every day. So when it comes to recording music, I do different things. I’m always changing, evolving. Some days I want to write a ballad, others I want to work on a reggaeton song. I wanted to break apart these ideas that if you write and sing ballads, you can’t do much else.”
For her, music is music, whether she’s blending tango and trap or cumbia and reggaeton. She aims to keep embracing that freedom as she moves forward and loves that her fans have come along for the ride. She loves keeping them guessing about what she’ll do next.
In that spirit, after releasing the urban collab “Duele” with John C in September and the soulful Alejandro Sanz duet “Un Beso en Madrid” back in October, she closed out the year with “Te Olvidaré.” The pared-down song is a heartbreak ballad about learning to let go.
“Ballads like this one have this way of staying in your heart forever, keeping you company in key moments of your life. I mean, who hasn’t felt like this at some point? You know, feeling like it takes time to heal, to grow," she explained. "So whether you’re feeling empty and like nothing nor anyone will make you smile again, it’s a reminder that those moments are when you most learn and grow up."
Those themes carry through in the video for the track, which Tini directed herself. Alone in a room, Tini sings of heartbreak, only to find herself slowly coming into her own again, seeing her environment, her clothing and her demeanor change once she embraces how much she’s learned of herself. It’s an apt sentiment to celebrate the release of the album but also to close out 2020.
“That feeling of being reborn, of finding yourself again and being able to smile again, that’s what I wanted to capture,” she explained. “That sense of feeling like you’re enough and that there are people who love you and will love again. That message of hope, I feel, is a perfect way to mark the end of this year when maybe we’re all starting to see the light again. As Alejandro sings, ‘después de la tormenta siempre llega la calma’ [it’s always darkest before dawn].'”
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