Javiera Mena

Javiera's first song officially published was “Sol de Invierno", which was included in the 2005 compilation album Panorama Neutral. Another song, “Cámara Lenta”, shortly after was included in the soundtrack of Alberto Fuguet’s movie Se arrienda. Her debut album, Esquemas Juveniles, was recorded between 2004 and 2005 and it was produced by Cristian Heyne. The album was first released in 2006 in Argentina by an indie label owned by Entre Ríos, and was released in Chile and Japan through local indie labels. Her music began to achieve attention worldwide mainly because of the internet, especially sites such as MySpace. The album was later named the second best album of the 2000s by Latin music website Club Fonograma,[2] while its opening track "Al Siguiente Nivel" was named the best song of the decade.[2]

In 2009, Mena performed in Europe for the first time, as being invited by Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience[3] to be their opening act in their concerts held in Spain and Portugal.[4]

After four years of production and mastering, Mena's second studio album, entitled Mena, was released in late 2010. This album was again produced by Cristian Heyne, and took a more dancefloor-oriented style compared to her first work, which was more of a balance between dance with mid-tempo and slow ballads. The album's first single, “Hasta la Verdad”, was listed as one of the "Singles of the Week" in the American version of the iTunes Store,[5] and iTunes Mexico named Mena as the breakthrough album of the year.[6] Club Fonograma gave Mena its first, and to date only, perfect 100 rating, and later named it their 2010 album of the year.[7]

In April 2011, Mena performed live in the Chilean version of Lollapalooza.[8] In May, she toured in Spain and performed live as one of the foreign acts of the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. She was praised for her performance and got the attention of the Spanish local press.[9][10]

In 2012, Mena was featured in El Guincho's single Novias.

In March 2013, Mena along with fellow countryman artist Gepe collaborated with Mexican singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas for a song entitled "Vuelve".

In October 2014, Javiera Mena released her third album, Otra Era. The album marks the search of the artist for a heavy 1980s disco sound, with a wider use of synthesizers and more danceable beats than her previous work. Also, this stage reflects a bigger interest in the visual aspects of her career regarding music videos and live shows. The first single released was the song "Espada" ("Sword"), released in 2013, whose video (and lyrics) became widely popular due to its references to LGBT community. The video was directed by Luis Cerveró (part of the remarkable visual collective CANADA) and has more than two million views on YouTube.

On the cover of the album Otra Era, Javiera appears in a black and white picture, wearing Eskimo sunglasses by designer André Courrèges (an item which later became an icon of Javiera) and showing full breasts. The cover was censored by the media and music and streaming services like iTunes and Spotify.

In 2015, she toured in Otra Era Tour, taking its shows to Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Chile.

In 2016, Javiera was invited to participate as a jury in the most popular music festival in Chile, The Viña Del Mar International Song Festival. She was also invited to play a show at the festival, which was broadcast on national TV and satellite international signal on A&E. Javiera arranged to make a very attractive and spectacular show for the night, including very colorful visuals, fancy garments and a set of numerous female dancers. The show was a gateway for a lot of people in the country (and in Latin America) who didn't know the work of Javiera, and the end of the show she said "I'm very happy to be here. It's very difficult to be an independent artist in Chile, and besides the numbers and sales, I make music because it comes from my soul, from my heart."

2016 marked 10 years of the career of Javiera Mena (since the release of Esquemas Juveniles), which she will be celebrating in a commemoration show in Santiago on September of the same year.