Alondra López Bentley (born 25 January 1983) is an English-Spanish singer-songwriter. She was born in
Lancaster, Lancashire, England and has been living in Spain since the age of five.
Life and education
She was born in
Lancaster, England, on 25 January 1983. Her mother, Susan Bentley, was a painter and her father, Juan Antonio López García, was a singer, actor and poet.
She moved with her family to
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
(Spain) when she was five years old.
She studied in Murcia's Art School and then went on to Murcia's University to study Fine Arts but dropped out after four years to engage in her music career. She is completely self-taught in guitar playing and singing. She is currently living in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
.
Career

Alondra Bentley started writing her own songs at the age of 16. At that time she joined a few short-lived bands but soon focused on her own tunes. She made her first demo under the name Ladybird but soon decided to use her real name. After winning the ''Creajoven'' contest for local singer songwriters in
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
she started doing her first solo shows. In 2006, her demo was voted as one of the best of the year in the
Radio 3 (Spanish national public radio) show, 'Disco Grande'. Right after, she began writing the songs that would eventually form ''Ashfield Avenue'', Alondra's debut album. The title comes from the name of the street where she was born in Lancaster. The first single 'Dot, dot dot' was one of the most radiated songs that year. The album was produced by ''César Verdú'' and had a big number of guest musicians such as Gary Olson, Isobel Knowles, Fino Oyonarte, Joaquín Pascual, Vicente Macía, Joserra Semperena, Xel Pereda, etc. It was recorded by ''Paco Loco'' in his studio in
Cadiz in December 2008 and released by ''Absolute Beginners'' in April 2009. Alondra gave hundreds of concerts in Spain in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and she has taken part of festivals like
Primavera Sound
Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...
,
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (), commonly abbreviated to simply FIB, is an annual music festival that takes place in the town of Benicàssim, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock and electronica arti ...
, La Mar de Músicas,
Sonorama
The Sonorama Festival (since 2008 Sonorama-Ribera) is an annual music festival which takes place in the city of Aranda de Duero, in Castile and León (Spain), since 1998. It is organized by the cultural association, and non-profit, "Art de Troy ...
, Faraday, Lolapop, Lemonpop, Festival de la Luz, etc. She also toured
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and UK.
In summer 2012, the label
Gran Derby Records
Gran may refer to:
People
*Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran"
*Gran (name)
Places
* Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary
* Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet count ...
released her first album with songs for children under the title ''Alondra Bentley Sings For Children, It's Holidays!.'' The following autumn, ''The Garden Room'', her third record (and Ashfield Avenue's proper follow-up) was released by ''Gran Derby Records'' as well. This time, the album was produced by
Josh Rouse
Josh Rouse (born March 9, 1972) is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter. Originally from Nebraska, Rouse began his recording career in Nashville in 1998 and later relocated to Spain. In 2014, Rouse won a Spanish Goya Film Award in the c ...
and was recorded in ''Rio Bravo studio'' (Valencia) featuring musicians like Caio Bellveser, Xema Fuertes, Pepe Andreu, Nacho Ruiz, Pere Munuera and Joe Pissapia. Shortly after, in November 2012, she wrote four brand new songs for the film
Loving Eimish. During 2013 and 2014, Alondra has been touring extensively in Spain and China.
[Primeros días en China – Rolling Ston]
publicado en marzo de 2014
Musicians
* Nacho Ruiz (piano, guitar, vocals)
* Xema Fuertes (guitar, banjo, drums, vocals)
* Caio Bellveser (double bass, vocals)
* Pepe Andreu (trumpet, flugelhorn)
She has worked with musicians like
Josh Rouse
Josh Rouse (born March 9, 1972) is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter. Originally from Nebraska, Rouse began his recording career in Nashville in 1998 and later relocated to Spain. In 2014, Rouse won a Spanish Goya Film Award in the c ...
,
:es:Refree, Refree, Nacho Vegas, Cristina Rosenvinge,
Coque Malla
Jorge "Coque" Malla (born 22 October 1969, in Madrid) is a Spanish musician and actor, frontman of the group Los Ronaldos (Founded in 1985). His mother was the actress Amparo Valle, who died on 29 September 2016.
Filmography
He starred in the 1 ...
,
Amaral, Nine Stories, Tórtel, etc. She has also opened for artists such as
Eels
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
,
Richard Hawley
Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...
,
Josh Rouse
Josh Rouse (born March 9, 1972) is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter. Originally from Nebraska, Rouse began his recording career in Nashville in 1998 and later relocated to Spain. In 2014, Rouse won a Spanish Goya Film Award in the c ...
, and
Matthew E. White
Matthew E. White (born August 14, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and arranger. He has worked as a collaborator, producer, and arranger for acts including Bedouine, Natalie Prass, Cocoon, Foxygen, Justin Vernon, Hiss Golden Me ...
.
Discography
;Albums
* ''Ashfield Avenue '' (2008) – Absolute Beginners Records
* ''Alondra Bentley Sings for Children, It's Holidays! '' (2012) – Gran Derby Records
* ''The Garden Room'' (2012) – Gran Derby Records
* ''Resolutions'' (2015) – Gran Derby Records
;Soundtrack albums
* '' Loving Eimish'' OST (2012) – Gran Derby Records
References
External links
Alondra Bentley at Gran Derby Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Alondra
1983 births
Living people
Spanish women singer-songwriters
Spanish singer-songwriters
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers
21st-century Spanish singers
People from Lancaster, Lancashire
People from Murcia