David Martínez Álvarez once again gets rid of his alias, Rayden, to enter a new adventure. The man from Alcalá puts music aside for a moment – just when he is at his best moment – to present us with a new facet of his that we were unaware of until now, that of a novelist. Because we have already seen him dressed as a writer in four collections of poems and a songbook, books in which the line between the poem and the song is so fine that sometimes you don’t know if you are singing a poem or reciting a song. But this time is different.
And it is that they have had to spend three long years to be able to have “The approach of the cactus woman and the balloon man” in novel format, since those followers of David singer, or rather Rayden, already knew the protagonists of this story. The artist made a presentation of Sáhara and Ciro – or, put another way, “The cactus woman and the balloon man” – on the tenth track of “Namesake” (WMS, 21), a song that is already among his best, if not the best. And if the subject was already touching a sensitive fiber, being able to get to know both of them in depth has been pure emotion.
The story of Sahara and Ciro is much more than a simple love story. It is a story that talks about traumas and fears, how difficult it is to overcome them, existential crises, sincerity, finding oneself, letting go… although I think it would be fair to say that this story speaks of life in a way so real that it scares. It doesn’t matter who you are, one way or another, it’s going to hit the target. And not only through the protagonists, since the secondary characters have brilliant arcs that perfectly complete and complement this unusual approach, especially that of Lita.
Apart from reflecting so well the reality in which we live, what has surprised us the most about the book is its dizzying pace. Despite having more than 300 pages, in all the chapters something happens that makes you unable to put it down, and there is no better compliment for a book. Because for a singer and poet, making the leap to the novel is not an easy task, but David makes it seem so.
And, obviously, within the novel, references to music could not be missing. First, including a song excerpt at the beginning of several chapters, putting a soundtrack (ranging from Muchachito to Arctic Monkeys) to each section of the book until the moment in which the story is reaching its climax, such as when you take off your headphones because you know something important is about to happen. But, apart from referencing other great artists, David allows himself the luxury of adding small glimpses of some of his songs between the pages of his novel, flashes that are hidden with the utmost picaresque and that his fans will get more out of. a smile.
Definitely, Rayden 2023 starts brilliantly and with the feeling that this is only the beginning of something bigger. In fact, in a recent interview, he himself has said that by writing this book he has found his true vocation and we take that statement as a declaration of intent. The novelist David is here to stay and what a joy for Spanish literature, hopefully it will be the first of many.
