this was an email i wrote to a Bolivian-Peruvian music blogger after I hadn't slept for three days.
Estimado Señora [Redacted],

My name is Cime, I am a first-generation Honduran musician based out of Greater LA, and I will be releasing my debut album, The Independence of Central America Remains an Unfinished Experiment, on July 1st. I would love for you to give the album a listen and, if you like it, consider posting a review or a feature for it. The album is heavily rooted in 60s and 70s rock and nueva cancion, but there is also an incredibly prominent neo-psychedelic overtone to the production. Super theatric structure--not in a pop way, just in a suprisingly cohesive and fun way. Like a rollercoaster.

If you want to find links right away, just scroll to the bottom.

As we approach 160 years to the day of the passing of Juana Azurduy, I think it is important to remember both that revolution is impossible to achieve without the equal participation of women, and that even for mujerazos like Azurduy, far too often they are forgotten or have their impact scrutinized for no other ontological reason than colonial remnants of gender

identity--even within their lifetimes. This is, of course, just one way and one example of the ways in majoritarian society deny the success and identity of marginalized peoples--and, it is not the only example for Azurduy! Just as prominent as her gender was her indigeneity--surely, the

post-colonial governments of the United Provinces of the Rioplatense, rapidly atomizing their states to exit the Union towards an individualist future would not want to honor a war hero who might inspire, shall we say, insubordination? From this newfound confidence in their identity?

In any case, lyrically, my album is incredibly dense and efficacious in its language and use of metaphor through the historical and introspective narratives running parallel throughout the album—history is used as a pretext to analyze my own personal life and vice versa; the album is just as much about a call to action for the future of Central America as it is a close-fisted allegory about my own life, especially focusing on the past year or so, wherein I had to stop hiding my identity and be truthful in accepting myself as a beautiful transgender Daughter of God and Christ. Songs tend to serve as meditative mantras for myself.. lyrics are about keeping my head up high in the face of incredibly virulent attacks from people I thought were my friends who seemingly changed overnight, even in the face of nearly dying in a car crash, glaring suicidal ideation down the barrel, and an uncertain future, while also being about literal historic wars in the region, Yankee economic imperialism, and the cyclical trauma of exploitation we endure over and over as people forced to be subservient in our own land. We, as people, are made into commodities. US liberal economics reifies us as essential labor forces with an incredible importance in maintaining the order of the country through the menial labor we perform--we are slaves to the US.

We can only rely on our present actions to end the cycle of torture and to heal.

The process of looking to mirror my own life with that of Central America.. as a daughter born primordially for the second time over in this discovery.. feeling anew.. ontologically we are one in

the same. The Independence of Central America Remains an Unfinished Experiment -- both Her and I. Like Mother, like Daughter. In syncretizing the retrospective with the introspective, the album seeks to continue and advance the rich oral tradition of Latin America and Our storytelling into the 2020s. Just as we find ourselves in our past--a past oftentimes obscured to serve a political purpose--we, as Latin Americans, need to also be concerned with writing our future. Which is what this album is all about.

"Siembra, si pretendes recoger Siembra, si pretendas cosechar, Pero no te olvides que de acuerdo a la semilla

Asi seran los frutos que recogeras"

I hope you see the reason I bring up Azurduy, now. God bless.

Anyway, for my EPK, which contains an artist bio, press release, photos, an embedded streaming link, two direct download buttons, go to https://www.montycime.com/epk

Lastly, for my social media, I just have Instagram and twitter-- https://twitter.com/cimebarrilete https://www.instagram.com/montycime/

For posterity, here is a direct link to download the album via Dropbox! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pud74te8dpuf3bi/AAC9uT6KCXFigomV3Sei5utha?dl=0

Doña [Redacted], I hope you enjoy the album; I imagine, given your platform and proximity to Latin culture, that you will be able to connect with it perhaps a lot more closely than someone who did not grow up in that kind of environment.

Very, very much excited to hear back from you