Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Duende is said to be one of those words in Castilian Spanish that has no translation in English. The concept pretty much encapsulates the quality of a work of art — often, but not necessarily connected with flamenco — that has soul, spirit, authenticity, emotion, magnetism or a combination of all the above. From All About My Mother to Live Flesh, Pedro Almodóvar's movies have by far the greatest collection of Spanish songs with duende in all its forms from the past century, ranging from pasodoble to copla to many other genres.

To me, these songs inspire some sort of nostalgia for a Spain I never knew but somehow consider part of my identity. To you, I hope the pieces will add some bits of duende or soul to an otherwise plainly stressful Sunday morning.

Listen to the full playlist here.