"On DOGA, Molina's fascinations have shifted from the paranormal to the paranatural. She cherry-picks synthetic textures that mimic the most terrifying sounds you can hear in your own backyard-a fisher cat's cry, a coyote's howl, the humming of a wasp's nest under the eaves. On "desinhumano," Molina's guitar takes on the twang of a Chinese guzheng as she retells the tale of Sun Wukong, a recurring character in the country's literature."
"The mesmerizing "intringulado"-"an invented word to describe a mess all tangled up," per DOGA's lyrics sheet-adds a wrinkle to that narrative. Molina sings of a trio of sisters squabbling over a teapot that belonged to their mother. (Her sister, Inés, was one of the titular Hermanas, and their mother, Chunchuna Villafañe, had careers as a model and actress.) She knows how to spin a yarn, that the faintest whiff of confession is intoxicating."
Juana Molina's DOGA moves her focus from paranormal folklore to 'paranatural' textures, employing synthetic timbres that mimic backyard animal sounds like fisher cat cries, coyote howls, and wasp humming. On 'desinhumano' her guitar adopts a guzheng twang as she retells Sun Wukong's quest for immortality and its tragic hubris. Molina uses invented words such as 'intringulado' and writes songs in playlike dialogue, narrating domestic scenes like sisters fighting over a teapot. Biographical moments—quitting Juana y Sus Hermanas while pregnant and relocating to Los Angeles—inform her restless, theatrical approach. Left turns and reinvention define her artistic practice.
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