Fra3 is born, a project that celebrates 50 years of musical brotherhood

PalmMusic had bound them together their entire lives, and now, after nearly 50 years of each embarking on their own paths, they've decided to translate this bond into an album. Thus, Fra3 was born, a project comprised of Miquel Massutí, Biel Pons, and Jos Gayà, which will be officially launched with the release of their self-titled debut album on December 5th, available on both vinyl and digital formats. "It's like we put on an exhibition," Massutí summarizes, "where everyone could bring their paintings, but they all had to be worked on by everyone. There are songs written by Biel, others by Jos, and others by me, and yet we've managed to create a coherence among them all, so that they all represent all of us. It was only when we had it completely finished that I realized it was truly like that, and I was very happy about it." On this album, which they won't initially present live, musicians like Ali Domínguez, Pere Dàvila, and Alfonso de la Sierra have participated, in addition to Xisco Albéniz, who did the mastering, and Joan Pascual, who did the design.

It all started, Massutí recalls, following the death of a musician who had been very important to all of them, Pere Pla. "His death, in December 2021, led Jos and me to start talking about our beginnings and about songs and recordings we had from that time." There was one song in particular that I remembered very well, but I couldn't find it anywhere, and I asked myself if I had any way of recovering it. And I, well, it turned out; a tune… We arranged to try and get it back, and shortly after, Biel joined us too, but we weren't able to recover it completely." The song, with lyrics by Pere Pla and music by Jos Gayà, was titled Auba doll And that first stanza that Massutí remembered went like this: ""Tea Pencil drawing / On paper rutted Then I erase you with an eraser / You gently disappear / Beech from your memory calligraphy / I me "grammatically ill." And although they hesitated to include it on the album, they ultimately decided against it. "It was the trigger, but it wasn't a song we had written, that was Fra3's, so it remained just that, a starting point that brought us back together."

Lyrics in the foreground

Among the ten tracks that are part of the album, where the three musicians interact with vocals, guitars, drums and keyboards, are I'm at peace here. and WalkingThese tracks have served as early previews of these works. And although they were written by two different members of the group – the first by Miquel Massutí, and the second by Biel Pons – they address very similar themes and one of the narrative threads that runs throughout the album: a love for small things, attention to detail. "Even though we have different approaches and influences, what unites us is music, and through it we can talk about things that interest and affect us, like nature, death, or our approach to life," says Massutí. "That's why we were clear from the start that the vocals had to be front and center. The arrangements aren't very complicated, it's true, but we wanted the lyrics, which are very important to us, to stand out. Listeners will find an album that is, above all, very intimate," he adds. Walking They sing that "it's the best place / to rest, dead, / in there HE forest, / beneath a great stone, / inside a black hole / of this green earth / until I become / more dust throughout the universe."

The next single, the last one that will serve as a preview of the album, is titled Calm Palm And the author is Jos Gayà. "We talked about that supposed calm you have in Palma, that tranquility it once had, which, if you turn the concept around, transforms into 'calm, Palma!', which is what we're asking for now in the face of this uncontrolled growth, the invasion of cruise ships and cars and vacation rentals, and the disappearance of traditional bars and shops."

A timeless album

The fighting spirit remains intact in this new project formed by three names that have always been linked to the music scene: Massutí with groups like Corc, Rock & Press, and Massutí y los ceromonstruos; Pons with Forats Negres and Furnish Time; and Gayà with Mön and international projects such as the ensemble La Bottega dell'Note, a fusion group of Baroque and Irish music, and Waterwind. "The experience we have has been very useful," acknowledges Miquel Massutí, "but it has also meant that not everything was so simple. Any creative act involves defending one's own ego, and we are three egos that are no longer 18 years old. When you start out, perhaps you're easier to mold, but three people between 65 and 67 years old have had a lot of experience. "And in this sense, the process of making the album has also helped us learn to compromise, to see that sometimes you're not right, and that's okay." Now, what we all agree on is that it's a timeless album: it doesn't depend on trends or eras, nor is it nostalgic or old-fashioned. We made it ourselves, now, thinking about the things we like. You're going to try to do what you've already done: you're going to do what comes out. And I think this spontaneity also adds value to the album.