Delicate but strong threads connect what might seem at first improbable tales of disparate characters. A young girl gets pregnant and is cast adrift by her family, who sends her half a world away. Elsewhere, a decades-long love story is never consummated. A paper boat defies the odds and crosses the ocean. A blind magician dusts off his top hat and pursues his dream of fame in the New York City subway.

Juana sings about “those journeys in which you leap into the void and leave your home forever, whether you know it or not.” She adds, “I realized much later that every song is a bit my journey—but also my mom’s, and my grandmother’s, and my great-great-grandmother Emilia’s.”

“Emilia’s story was not told because they were ashamed, because she got pregnant, she was 15 years old in Italy, and they put her on a ship and sent her to Argentina. Alone,” she continues after a pause. “And that's where my family comes from. That is where I come from. I found out about her last year from an aunt who told me the story. My mother never told me. So, I feel that not only did her own family condemn Emilia, but all the following generations condemned her as well—and I am making a break here.”

“This is an album about women. My mom passed away a few years ago, and ‘Las Golondrinas’ was her song,” says Luna. Juana sings “La Paloma” (The Dove), a traditional Basque song that was a favorite of her grandmother, evoking the arrangement her grandparents sang together when she was a child. “My whole world is in this album,” she says.

Luna's band includes Federico Díaz (guitar), Sebastián de Urquiza (double bass, vocals), Loic da Silva (accordion, Portuguese guitar) and Asher Kurtz (electric guitar, synth). Luna has performed at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, and more. She has collaborated with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and her compositions have been commissioned by Berklee Press and Carnegie Hall.

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