CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso Open Up About Being ‘FREE SPIRITS’ With Their Latest Album

In the years that have passed since their unruly breakout blurred the lines between punk irreverence and pop ambition, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso have built a career on contradiction — often described as chaotic yet calculated, and histrionic yet deeply human. 

But with their latest album, FREE SPIRITS, the Buenos Aires-bred duo arrives at a different kind of inflection point: one that trades the safety of spectacle for something riskier, and more exposed. Trading commercial success for a more ambitious effort, the album goes beyond being an expansion of their sound, instead acting as a recalibration of who they are when the noise dies down.

Written in fragments across tour buses, hotel rooms, and the emotional whiplash of a whirlwind year, FREE SPIRITS captures two artists learning how to sit with both the highs and the comedowns of success. Leaning into uncertainty, embracing exhaustion, euphoria, and everything in between as raw material, the result is their most emotionally unguarded work to date, showcasing that vulnerability isn’t a departure from their identity but a deeper excavation of it.

As I meet with the musical duo, we find ourselves in a large, empty ballroom on the 39th floor of a high-rise hotel in central Tokyo. Despite a barrage of non-stop rain in the days prior, it’s surprisingly sunny out — a fact that CA7RIEL tells me has cured his case of jet lag. Though it’s still one day before their exclusive fan meet happening in Shimokitazawa, yet from the minute we first meet, it’s as if everyone’s spirits are uplifted with excitement, anticipation, and an abundance of good vibes.

In this exclusive sit-down interview with Billboard Philippines, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso open up about the process of bringing the album of FREE SPIRITS to life, sharing what they’ve learned from their time together across the world, and how it feels to let go of all the pressure and expectations that came with their whirlwind year of success. 

Billboard Philippines: You recently announced your upcoming world tour, which comes in celebration of your latest album, FREE SPIRITS.This album feels like an expansion of your sound and a deepening of your world. So, what personal or creative shifts pushed you to become more emotionally unguarded on this album? 

Paco Amoroso: Well, we started to write the songs for this album while we were touring. And of course, it was a beautiful experience, but it also has its lows. Like, maybe one day you feel exhausted. Maybe one day you wanna destroy a hotel. *laughs* So, we’re trying to put all these emotions in the new songs. I think this is the most personal ever for CA7O and Paco.

What’s amazing about that also is that there’s a lot of lore. Like, you’ve established this whole world behind the album, including the concept of the Free Spirit Center, which you guys even had Sting as the architect. Given that it is both surreal and symbolic, what does ego death mean to each of you right now, especially as artists? 

Paco: Well, I think, after all of the success we’ve had lately, and having all the eyes of the world suddenly put on you — especially with the coronation with the Grammys and all of that — we know that it’s really hard to sustain that. The year that we had last year, it’s [honestly] very hard to match again. Especially because the first time this happens, it’s like a very special feeling. So for us, we try to take all of these successes and all of that, like, in a way, we need to be happy with that.

CA7RIEL: Now, we don’t want to put a lot of expectations about the future, because we feel like gonna crush and disappoint the world. Yeah. Because we know it’s really hard to match what we achieved last year. And for that reason, we’re trying to be, like, more liberated inside to be a free spirit literally. It’s the only way to survive for us, I think, especially doing all these things year after year. Like the act of touring, releasing music, learning a lot about ourselves, and even what we want to do as artists.

Throughout your career, you’ve always balanced chaos and a mix of humor and musicianship within your craft. So, how did you refine that balance within the album of FREE SPIRITS? 

CA7RIEL: Humor, chaos, and everything that’s in between. That is who we are. We are free spirits. We are humor, chaos, and we like music, and maybe it’s the only thing we can do. *laughs* And we know, I think it’s only us who are capable of what we are able to achieve as artists in this field, so we really try to go through whatever we can in a way that’s authentic to us and how we see the world. All before putting it into our music.

Paco: Yes, and I think we need to do something different, in comparison to what we did in PAPOTA. Like that, it is like a very cinematic, almost like a short film in a way.  And we know that we didn’t just want to repeat the success of the formula that we had and applied in PAPOTA. We felt like we needed to make something different, like less charged with that kind of theatricality. And more like we were trying to tell a different thing entirely. And I would say that allowed us to be more focused on the songs of the album. 

Speaking of the songs on this album, you guys have collaborated with prolific artists like Fred again.., Jack Black, and Anderson. Paak. And what’s amazing is that they all bring very unique energies to this album alongside what you guys already have. 

So what did working with each of them unlock in your sound that you weren’t able to explore before?

CA7RIEL: So with Fred again…, we really felt the freestyle of his nature as a producer — in a way that felt only with Fred again…, and it really vibes so well with our thing [as a duo]. With Sting, I think it was like we felt this sense of calm. Like really experiencing the tranquility and calmness of sitting down to work and making music.

And for Jack Black, we really felt brought a unique style of performance that really transformed the album. Like what he brought, and even taught us was how to make a song through acting. So when he arrived at the studio, he literally threw himself to the floor and started singing and playing in a playful fashion. So I’d say playfulness — that’s the right word to describe him.

With Anderson Paak, oh gosh, I just keep remembering the memory of us together in the studio. [it was] really crazy. He’s so fun, so fun. And he’s just so addicted to music — like really addicted to music. 

Paco: I think in his case, it’s like a display of talent and musicality that I’ve never seen before. He doesn’t care, like he’s not ashamed of anything, he’s not ashamed of trying. And what he brought to the studio, like, everything he did on the mic, like, it’s perfect! He’s so good, so, so good. He even taught CA7O that it’s very, very important to smile when you’re recording. Like you should always have a smile when you’re in the studio, just so the listeners can really feel that with the music.

That’s amazing to hear. Just by hearing the music itself, I feel the energy that you guys have been describing. As it is, you guys already have a unique sound profile to your music, but to see how it’s perfectly infused with all these different collaborators, I think that’s what makes the record even more impressive.

Paco: The thing is, we are fans of all of them. We really respect a lot their creativity, and as big fans of who they are, we just let them be, and then we try to follow their flow.

I think what’s fascinating about that fact is that on tracks like “Goo Goo Ga Ga” with Jack Black and “Hasta Jesús Tuvo un Mal Día” with Sting, each song feels very different — but still very connected within the context of this album. How do you guys decide when a song should have a mix of either performance-driven work or introspection? 

Paco: I think that in these collaborative songs, there’s a distinct feel that can’t be described by how it fits within those themes. With a song like “Goo Goo Ga Ga,” I think you can feel more like the joy in the room or the good times that we spent together making it. Though I’d say that the more introspective songs on this record are mostly the ones without the features. 

But in the case of our collaboration with Sting, the lyrics on that song are actually very deep, and the message is very strong. And that’s because Sting has this message inside him, and he really embodies the message of, like, good spirits, good vibes, and always moving forward.

Given that you talked about your Grammy and multiple Latin Grammy wins, did you feel any pressure going into Free Spirits, or has winning all those accomplishments given you more freedom to take more risks as artists? 

Paco: I would say that we are very confident with the songs — because I think these are the best songs we have ever made. Of course, you can have high expectations of winning another Latin Grammy, but you also never know what’s going to happen and that is okay. So I think a lot of the concept of the Free Spirits thing is about leaving the expectations out and just choosing to connect with the music, and be happy with this journey of songs. Because that joy is something that you cannot contain in trophies.

CA7RIEL: Yeah. And there’s a liberty to just kind of express yourself, right? Just be who you are.

Since we’ve discussed that within both the rollout and songs of the album, there is indeed a lot of storytelling and world-building. How important is that narrative in your music compared to your earlier projects, like PAPOTA? 

CA7RIEL: We’re telling our story. Maybe in a theatrical way, with humor, of course, we are. But we’re telling the truth. All the things that we’re feeling, and that we felt. 

Paco: Yeah, and also, nowadays, like, I think if you want the people to hear your songs, hear the album, and all of that, you need to have this I-don’t-give-a-fuck vibe. So with all the videos we put out, the reels, like, the shows also, even the whole rollout, I think what is important to us is to feel liberated and fully free. Like, you don’t need to care about what you’re putting out. 

For us, it was a good exercise too, to embrace that freedom and not to give a shit about our social media. And also, stuff like the sequence of the album is a little confusing for the fans at first, because it’s diverse. But when you have the whole album, it’s as if you can do the math yourselves. And just see how it flows, how it connects. It was such a crazy rollout for us and also a challenge, because for a lot of it, we weren’t playing it safe here.

What’s impressive is that coming all the way from your home country of Argentina to doing massive stages like Coachella, and even the Fuji Rock Festival here, it’s clear that your music really gets to resonate with a global appeal. How would you say that the global exposure that you guys have now has affected you personally and as artists? 

Paco: Yeah, I think it’s an honor. We are very grateful for that. And also, we are feeling more mature and more adult because of all the experiences we have had traveling and meeting great artists.

A lot of these milestones just happened last year. So for us, it’s a lot of happiness with that. And also, like, we are feeling like adults now. We definitely think we’ve grown a lot over the last year. 

But what surprises you most about how your music translates across different cultures?

CA7RIEL: I think it’s that we learned how to do music that everyone can easily understand, no matter the language. With the lyrics, we use a lot of vowels so that people can sing if they don’t speak Spanish, just so that it’s very easy for them to, like, ride along. Like here in Japan, the people go crazy when we sing stuff like “La la la” and more.

Paco: Yeah, we learn a lot about music and what connects. For example, in Japan, what kind of elements of the songs are the elements that really resonate with the people So we learn a lot of what people want also. At least here in Japan. We really think about it, even when we make the songs. 

CA7RIEL: Because you’re learning about different cultures around the world. And it becomes easier to make something that can really connect with them, and have the chance to become popular.

Yeah, and it really gets to connect with so many people. Like, millions of people. I even heard a while ago that you have fans flying in from Taiwan going to your fan event tomorrow. 

CA7RIEL: Whoa! 

Paco: That’s great. I hope we have time to spend some time with every person who travels to see us. As we are very… crazy. *laughs*

CA7RIEL: We are so far away from home. Yeah. It’s crazy and psychedelic. It’s a good way. Mm-hmm. A good trip. *laughs*

For my final question, looking at your journey together from Piola to Baño Maria to now, what does being a free spirit actually mean to you today, beyond the album itself? 

Paco: I think that being free to make music, especially the music you want, to say whatever you want. To be authentically you in life, in every stage, in every place you are. For us, it’s really that feeling of freedom. Just to live this life that we love to live and to still go on!

Listen to CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso’s latest album, FREE SPIRITS, in its entirety below: