credit Max McGuire
For Alejandro Aranda, genre has never been much of a destination. It’s closer to a toolbox.
Across his career, the Pomona-born singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has moved between intricate acoustic compositions, atmospheric pop, experimental rock, electronic production, classical influences, and, more recently, the crushing heaviness of metal. The connective tissue has never been a particular sound so much as an instinct: follow the song wherever it wants to go.
That philosophy takes center stage on his new seven-track EP, Baroque.
Featuring previously released singles “GLOWING” and “QUEEN” alongside five new tracks, Baroque is built around collision rather than categorization. Aranda describes the project as a meeting point between past and future, bringing jazz, classical music, pop, and drum and bass into the same evolving universe.
“Baroque is a new batch of songs that blends the past and future,” Aranda says. “I wanted to put my inspirations into a couple songs that embody every element, from jazz to classical to pop to drum and bass.”
That openness has followed Aranda since long before millions of viewers encountered him on the seventeenth season of American Idol. His run on the show was unusual not simply because of his technical ability, but because he treated one of mainstream television’s biggest platforms as an opportunity to introduce audiences to his own creative world. Aranda performed seven original songs during the competition, becoming the only contestant in the show’s history to do so, and ultimately finished as runner-up.
Rather than allowing that exposure to funnel him toward a predictable pop career, Aranda kept moving.
His releases since then have continually shifted shape, including 2025 album Farewell Superstar, while his work with metal supergroup Seven Hours After Violet—alongside System Of A Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, Left To Suffer vocalist Taylor Barber, and musicians Michael “Morgoth” Montoya and Josh Johnson—has opened another outlet for the heavier music he says he has long written privately.
The apparent contradictions make sense once you understand how Aranda creates. He thinks in images. A song can begin with a picture, a dream, or an imagined movie before expanding into chords, textures, rhythms, and melodies. Genre becomes secondary to atmosphere.
That approach is particularly clear on “GLOWING,” a tender song built around love, intimacy, and the desire to celebrate another person. Its delicate guitar work and emotional warmth reveal one side of an artist whose curiosity increasingly seems more important than any fixed aesthetic identity.
Even Aranda’s evolution as a lyricist has come through something refreshingly removed from the machinery of the music industry: reading more, hiking, living, and allowing experience to give him something new to say.
Now, as he takes Baroque on the road as part of the second leg of his Hondo World Tour, Aranda is bringing those different impulses into the same room. Acoustic intimacy meets electronic experimentation; technical precision gives way to instinct; past influences become raw material for whatever comes next.
For an artist whose career has been defined by refusing to stay still, Baroque doesn’t sound like an attempt to arrive anywhere permanently. It sounds like another door opening.
We caught up with Alejandro Aranda to talk about Baroque, the intimacy behind “GLOWING,” creating music visually, life after American Idol, his relationship with the guitar, stepping into metal with Seven Hours After Violet, and why he hopes he’ll still be discovering new sounds fifty years from now.
Your new single “GLOWING” feels incredibly intimate, balancing delicate fingerstyle guitar with lyrics about enduring love. What emotional space were you in when you wrote it, and why did this feel like the right story to tell now?
Personally I just love making songs that highlight relationships and make the person you are with feel celebrated! And I just wanted to make a song with a positive vibe.
You describe the guitar as representing the ebb and flow of life while the drums mirror emotional rhythm. Do you usually think visually and philosophically when arranging music, or did this song naturally reveal those meanings as it evolved?
I’m all visual, every song I make starts with a picture or a movie or a dream. It always evolves as time goes on!
Since American Idol, you’ve consistently followed your own artistic instincts rather than chasing a conventional pop path. How has maintaining creative independence shaped the musician you’ve become?
It’s been my vibe ever since I started playing music. My main goal has always been to have as much fun as possible!
You were the only contestant in American Idol history to perform seven original songs during the competition. Looking back, how important was it for you to introduce audiences to your own songwriting instead of simply interpreting someone else’s work?
Personally when I was on the show I thought of it like a window to show people the music I make. My whole life revolves around music and I felt like it was such an amazing opportunity to showcase songs I’ve made on the show!
Your music effortlessly moves between folk, experimental rock, atmospheric pop, and instrumental textures. Do genres ever feel limiting to you, or do you simply see every song as demanding its own sonic language?
Every song I make is a story, and I like to tell that with textures and melodies!
Alongside your solo work, you’re also part of Seven Hours After Violet, a metal supergroup featuring musicians from vastly different backgrounds. How does stepping into that heavier world influence the way you approach your more introspective solo material?
Apart from my solo work, I tend to write very heavy music for fun. So stepping into the heavy felt like how I write at home. It’s been a blessing especially, working with amazing musicians.
Your guitar playing has become one of your defining signatures. Has your relationship with the instrument changed over the years—from being something you mastered technically to becoming an extension of your emotional voice?
It’s definitely an extension that I’m super super grateful for!!
Farewell Superstar explored one chapter of your artistic evolution, while “GLOWING” introduces another. In what ways do you feel your songwriting has matured since your last album?
Honestly I’ve just been reading way more and just going on hikes and getting life experiences that have made me grow with my lyrics!
Your performances often feel immersive and almost meditative, regardless of venue size. When preparing for the Hondo World Tour, what kind of emotional experience do you hope audiences leave with?
With Hondo World Tour I wanted to give an experience that shows pure acoustic—but also electronic elements—that hopefully shows the listener a taste of what’s to come! Especially on the acoustic side.
Your music constantly embraces change while remaining unmistakably your own. As you continue evolving, what excites you most about the next chapter of Alejandro Aranda—not just as a songwriter, but as an artist continuing to discover new ways of expressing himself?
Honestly I’m just excited to get back into the studio and keep creating. It’s my whole goal to do this for as long as I can! There is an endless discovery with music and I hope to be creating 50 years from now.
Baroque Tracklist
- HEARTSBEATS
- QUEEN
- GLOWING
- FALLING4U
- STIR CRAZY
- START OVER
- BAD
Baroque is out now. Alejandro Aranda is currently on the second leg of the Hondo World Tour.
