Ivan Cornejo Wants to Relive Nostalgic Summer Nights — And Collaborate With Billie Eilish

Ivan Cornejo didn’t have a typical high-school experience. When he was around 14, he started uploading videos of himself playing guitar to social media and before he knew it, he had a bunch of fans, eager to hear his songs. During his junior year, he dropped out and pursued music full-time, eventually signing a record deal and launching his career.

But now at age 20, he finds himself missing some of those early high-school days. That period was on his mind when Cornejo began working on his latest album, Mirada, out Friday via Zaragoza Records/Interscope Records. “Those songs just take me back to high school and to those summer nights,” he tells Rolling Stone on a recent Zoom call, “so the concept of Mirada is all about reliving that nostalgic summer night with your friends.”

Mirada is one of Cornejo’s most mature efforts yet, extending his brand of melancholy corridos and mixing them with alt-rock sounds and surprising polyrhythms. Some of that is a result of how much growing up Cornejo has done on the road: Last year, he wrapped his Terapia Tour, which saw him packing out venues across the country. “This last tour was such a roller coaster for me in the best way possible,” he explains. “I feel like I gained a lot of experience through hearing my fans and seeing how they react to certain songs. It just gave me new perspective on my music and what I wanted to do next on the new album.”

Mirada doesn’t feature any collaborations or guest artists, though Cornejo is already thinking about who he wants to work with in the future: “Arctic Monkeys or Billie Eilish,” he says with a smile, his black Johnny Cash shirt becoming visible. The country icon is one of Cornejo’s biggest inspirations: “When I was a little kid, like seven or eight years old, I remember putting on an hours-long playlist of just straight Johnny Cash to go to sleep.”

Below, Cornejo breaks down his favorite tracks on Mirada and shares what he hopes listeners get out of the album.

“Mirada”
This is the song that ties the whole album together. It felt right to name it “Mirada,” which means “a gaze.” This song talks about how you can see it in someone’s eyes when they’re no longer invested in or in love with you anymore. It’s written in what I think is such a beautiful way, the way it tells a story. This was co-written with Arath Herce, who opened up the tour for me.

I started it off with the melodies. I remember being in my studio by myself and the melody of “Me quebraste el corazon” came to me. Immediately, I was like, “There’s something so special about that.” Even though it’s so simple, saying, “You broke my heart,” but the way I sang it almost felt happy. And then as the melodies progressed, we got the idea of making this song feel very euphoric and happy, but keeping the lyrics pretty dark and almost depressing. It’s one of those songs where you might not think it’s a sad song — it just has like a sweet tone to it.

“Atención”
This is one of my favorites because I think it’s one of my first songs that feels a bit dance-y. I’m excited to see how fans react to it; it feels dark-romantic, almost. It sounds very dense and a little grungy, but the process was a big roller coaster, and it went through a lot of changes. What makes it more dance-oriented is that it’s in a pocket of 4/4, and reggaeton is 4/4. Corridos are usually 3/4. That change happened naturally — I was singing my melodies, and we played some guitars on it and it became what it is.

“Quiero Dormir Cansado”
The first time I heard this song I was around seven years old. I remember my mom and dad would play [Mexican singer] Emmanuel’s music a lot. It was like those childhood songs that you hear and then you kind of forget about, and then you grow up and you listen to it again. I was like, “Wow, how did I not like this when I was a little kid?” People say your parents’ music just grows on you as you get older because you start to understand it. And it’s true.

I really wanted this cover on the album because it just felt so moody. Again, I want people to revisit those summer nights with this album, whether you’re with your friends hanging out or you’re by yourself in your room — and this is one of those songs that you play in your room by yourself.

“Herida Abierta”
This one revolved around wanting to create a vibe that feels like you could play it at a beach during summer. We incorporated these big reverbs and made it a romantic summer corrido. I wanted it to feel like palm trees and the beach.

Throughout the process of writing and recording these songs, I think I just grew out of the idea of having collaborators on this album. I did have a couple artists in mind, including for this one, but as the songs progressed, I decided to just keep them for me. I won’t say who I was thinking in case [a collaboration] happens later. [Laughs]

“Baby Please”
Usually, [when writing] I’ll open up my camera and just record myself doing melodies, and then if one sticks, I’ll save the video. If I don’t like one, I delete it. Then I take the ones I saved, and I make an album and I’ll put all the same moods or vibes together. If I don’t, I know I’m just going to forget about them. So with this, whenever I’m looking for a melody that feels dark and mysterious, I go to that folder.

For “Baby Please,” we released the video, and the vibe we wanted to get from the video was this intimate feeling. We incorporated a violin in this very moody, dark red space. It was almost like a silhouette type of shot. We wanted to keep it creative and simple: vibrant colors mixed with this dark void.

“Sale Para Ser Feliz’
I wanted to start the album with this one because for my last tour, the Terapia Tour, I had incorporated a concert intro that is the same melody as the song now. So I made it into a song and thought it was right to start off the album that way for my fans. Like, if they were at the concert, it’s a little Easter egg for them. I liked the idea of having that connection.