Agua Salada – EVA RUIZ

MUSIC

Mar 23

There’s an undeniable magnetism to Eva’s world – something instinctive, tidal, and deeply felt. Shaped by movement, memory, and emotional reckoning, her debut project Agua Salada unfolds like a body returning to itself. Salt becomes both language and landscape: a symbol of cleansing, of pain, of transformation – the residue of everything we’ve survived and everything we’re still becoming.

Across this conversation, Eva speaks about the ocean as sanctuary, songwriting as therapy, and the quiet courage it takes to remain fully yourself. Astrophe steps into Eva’s world to talk salt, surrender, and the slow, deliberate act of piecing yourself back together.

what is your favourite conspiracy theory?

I’ve gotta admit that one of them is the flat earth theory.

What is your go-to karaoke song?

‘No one’ by Alicia keys

Who are you booking for a dream festival line-up?

Bob Marley
Sade
Prince
Lauryn hill
Whitney Houston
… so many

What is your favourite compliment you've ever received?

I’m grateful to say that there have been so many things I’ve heard lately that have made me cry. But, an artist friend that I’ve know for a long time told me that I’m very brave because, even if it took time I got here by being myself.

What is the last thing you Googled?

How is the tide right now on the island lol

What’s your favourite “third space”?

The ocean, the beach, when I go surfing.

What is your most prized possession?

Idk if it’s a possession, but my mind.

What’s the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

That you have to compromise who you are to get to where you wanna go.

What’s your go to comfort meal?

Eggs from my neighbors’s land, and fried potatoes from my friends garden.

Salt appears as a recurring symbol throughout Agua Salada; water, sweat, tears, wounds. Does this mineral have a special meaning to you?

Salt is so powerful, it cleans and purifies everything, but it can also burn and consume you. It’s definitely a mineral that I admire and respect, growing up on an island I’ve seen it really close and it’s fascinating.

Multiple songs on this album explore the theme of transition; heartbreak, migration, memory, rebirth. Was there a guiding question or emotional thread that held the project together while you were creating it?

I think it was ‘life’, I got to live a lot in order to write this project. I went from teenager to an adult, so those experiences through that time shaped this project.

“Sahara” connects to your family’s journey from the Sahara to the Canary Islands. How did exploring that lineage shape the emotional core of the album?

It lives in me. I grew up very connected to that part of me, hearing stories, along with my grandmother being a flamenco singer, so it’s in me intrinsicly when I write, in the melodies, what I want to hear, etc

When writing from a place of intimacy, how do you decide what to reveal and what to keep for yourself?

I’m a very shy person when it comes to talking in public, it depends on a lot of things but I use art and music to express myself to the fullest, what I’m not able to talk about, I write about about.

Multiple songs explore the duality of loving and letting go, do you find songwriting helps you resolve those emotional conflicts, or simply understand them better?

For me it’s a way of letting go or doing something with that feeling, songwriting is like therapy. I totally understand myself more through what I write.

The trumpet melody in “Amor de los de Antes” began as a vocal idea you improvised. Do you often think of instrumentation through your voice first?

I’m a fan of making my own sounds and samplers, I’m not able to play all the instruments I would like, but once you control your voice you can do a lot with that.

What would you like for your listeners to take away from the Agua Salada experience?

I hope I inspire them, make them feel seen, make them dance. I hope they see me too, in a more vulnerable and personal way.

Throughout the project there’s a sense of rebirth – can we ask what is next for you?

I’m on this path where I want to keep discovering myself, who I am and free myself from the “you can’t do this or that”. So there’s no limits rn.

Lastly, what are 7 things you find heavenly?