Milena Casado's empowering new single "SELF LOVE" from debut album

MILENA CASADO

TRUMPETER, COMPOSER, PRODUCER RELEASES EMPOWERING NEW SINGLE

“SELF LOVE” LISTEN HERE

FROM DEBUT ALBUM REFLECTION OF ANOTHER SELF DUE MAY 16 VIA CANDID RECORDS

ALBUM RELEASE SHOW MAY 10 AT PUBLIC RECORDS NYC ON SALE NOW

SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDE MORGAN GUERIN, DAVID VIRELLES, MAASSAI, ZACCHAE’US PAUL, & MORE

DEBUT ALBUM FEATURES TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON, BRANDEE YOUNGER, KRIS DAVIS, KOKAYI, WITH APPEARANCES FROM MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, ESPERANZA SPALDING, AND OTHERS A STUNNING AND BOLD FIRST STATEMENT FROM AN ARTIST EXPLORING HER HERITAGE, DEALING WITH RACISM IN HER UPBRINGING IN SPAIN, UNPACKING PERSONAL TRAUMAS, AND FINDING HER VOICE

April 23, 2025 – Today, Milena Casado, trumpeter, composer, and producer, released the new single “SELF LOVE,” the empowering closing track of her forthcoming debut album Reflection Of Another Self, slated for release on May 16 via Candid Records. LISTEN HERE.

The culminating song is Casado’s revelation of what it is like to reach a place of acceptance and understanding. A sonic tapestry, “SELF LOVE” features Casado’s vocals, trumpet, synths and electronics, Morgan Guerin's synths, Mike King's organ, synths and rhodes, Meshell Ndegeocello's electric bass, and Jongkuk Kim’s drums.

“Loving yourself is one of the hardest things to do,” admits Casado. “With “SELF LOVE,” I wanted to capture that journey, what it feels like to reach a place of acceptance and understanding. For me, self-love is still a work in progress, but maybe... this is how it sounds.”

This week Casado also announced her album release show on Saturday, May 10 at Brooklyn’s Public Records. Special guests include musicians Morgan Guerin, David Virelles, Maassai, Zacchae’us Paul, and others – tickets on sale now.

The new single follows the release of “O.C.T (Oda to the Crazy Times),” a meditation on our maddening, infuriating sociopolitical age. The rhythmic horns, punchy percussion, and experimental production paired with powerhouse bars by GRAMMY-nominated “rap hero” (Washington Post) KOKAYI mirror an overwhelming amount of thoughts, anxiety, confusion, anger, and frustration.

Casado has already generated incredible buzz in recent years through her work with Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Kris Davis, and other guiding forces in the music world. Reviewing a set led by the pianist Zacchae’us Paul, The New York Times wrote, “Milena Casado, was a revelation.” She was recently featured in the New York Times’ “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Brazilian Jazz.” (Read here)

Reflection Of Another Self is a stunning first statement that is sonically adventurous and a deeply personal exploration of her identity, overcoming personal traumas including experiencing racism growing up in Spain and grappling with her dual heritage, among other profound topics. It is an adventurous and bold statement from a newcomer who has been honing her skill with luminaries and biding her time, constructing a debut album fit for someone destined to upend the jazz world.

Co-produced by Casado with “one of her biggest mentors and friends,” the drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and the wizardly multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin, Reflection of Another Self boasts a dream team of special guests: harpist Brandee Younger, flutist Nicole Mitchell, pianist Kris Davis, sound artist and turntablist Val Jeanty and the MC KOKAYI. Meshell Ndegeocello stops by to lay down a bassline on “Self Love,” the meditative closer of pure uplift. Alongside these artists is a core band including some of the finest improvising musicians in the game: pianist Lex Korten, bassist Kanoa Mendenhall, drummer Jongkuk Kim, and Morgan Guerin on EWI.

Of course, Casado, a fluidly virtuosic player who attacks a groove with the graceful power of a champion boxer, could have crushed a more conventional acoustic jazz debut. “But that wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she says. “I was really trying to find these sounds that I had in my head, that I hadn’t really heard yet, and see how I could mix them with an acoustic sound, drawing inspiration from Miles' quintet with Wayne Shorter — especially the Miles Smiles LP.”

Reflection Of Another Self is the most important achievement yet in Casado’s career, but it’s also the beginning of a bold new aesthetic. “When I began this album, I had all these expectations: It’s my first album; It needs to express exactly who I am” she says. “But now I see that it’s really just the starting point of a long exploration.”

Reflection Of Another Self Tracklist