Juan Formell's renowned Cuban ensemble Los Van Van launched its most recent album, La Maquinaria, this past Wednesday at the Habana Libre Hotel’s Solidaridad Hall.

The record, produced by Cuba’s EGREM label, brings us ten dance themes, including the classics Recíbeme and Eso que anda.

Juan Formell, band director, said the record brings back the style of Los Van Van of the 80s and 90s and launches new pieces and songs that today's young generation does not know. “We’ve played new materials, live, and they’ve worked, the same way they worked when we composed them,” he stated.

Formell added that the record stems from the changes currently taking place in the world of music and the studio setting and also from his own personal reflections on Cuba's music scene.

In contrast with Arrasando, the band’s previous record, Formell was behind the concept and production of the album from beginning to end. During its launching, filmmaker Ian Padrón presented a promotional video clip with cameo appearances by athlete Javier Sotomayor, musician Kelvis Ochoa, visual artist Choco and actor Jorge Perugurría.

The album’s cover design shows works by Alexis Leyva Machado, Kcho, graphic designer Eric Silva and Alberto Medina Peña and photographs by Néstor Martí, José R. Fernñandez and Mariannik González. The record seeks to give voice to Formell’s idea, that a maquinaria (piece of machinery) can be a ship, a country, something that comes together, where individual components coalesce to gain in strength and stature.

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