‘PERSONAJES’: Jester build their own “Quinqui Pop” from Barcelona
Jester release PERSONAJES, a nine-track debut that turns Sant Andreu, Barcelona and everyday characters into the centre of their own “Quinqui Pop”.
Jester have released PERSONAJES, their debut album. Across nine tracks, the Sant Andreu de Palomar band gives full shape to the universe they have been building around Barcelona, neighbourhood identity and a label of their own making: Quinqui Pop.
The album arrived on 25 September 2026, and just one day later Jester brought it to La Mercè as part of BAM Acció Cultura Viva at Plaça de Can Fabra. Rather than closing a chapter, the release works as a formal introduction to a band whose local identity had already been taking shape through earlier songs and its long-running connection to Sant Andreu.
Turning Barcelona into characters
PERSONAJES is built as a collection of recognisable scenes and figures. “BIENVENIDOS” opens the door, while “PERSONAJES” states the album’s central idea. Tracks such as “ZIDANE” and “LETIZIA” use humour and familiar names to look at everyday reality from a very specific point of view.
Barcelona appears explicitly in “VICTORIA” and “TIBIDABO”, which closes the album. On “FNAC”, featuring Júlia Serrasolsas of Ginestà, the band switches between Catalan and Spanish to revisit a breakup through memories attached to an everyday place. “SÍNDROME” focuses on the difficulty of surviving inside the music industry itself, while “JUGADOR” approaches gambling through irony.
What does “Quinqui Pop” mean?
Jester have been using the phrase for some time as a way of describing themselves. The “quinqui” side comes, according to the band, from street stories, neighbourhood life and familiar characters; the “pop” side reflects their aim of turning that material into direct, accessible songs. It is less a strict genre label than a way of organising a strongly local identity without limiting its reach.
The current line-up is Eloi Román on vocals, Mateu Vayreda on guitar, Joan Valentín on bass and Pau Basté on drums. Their connection to Sant Andreu is not simply visual branding: in 2023 they released “Càntic dels de Sant Andreu”, dedicated to Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu, and that neighbourhood identity continues to run through the project.
PERSONAJES tracklist
- BIENVENIDOS
- PERSONAJES
- ZIDANE
- LETIZIA
- FNAC
- SÍNDROME
- JUGADOR
- VICTORIA
- TIBIDABO
With the debut now out, Jester plan to take PERSONAJES to venues and festivals throughout 2027. What makes the project interesting for Mewsick is exactly that attempt to turn a neighbourhood, a way of speaking and a cast of everyday characters into a language of their own.
Press image supplied by Music Bus.