Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler is embarking on his first tour of Europe

MADRID (AP) — Capitalizing on an impressive moment in Spanish-language music, Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler is embarking on his first tour of Europe.

“Even Don Quixote didn’t get as far as urban Spanish-speaking music is getting today in the world. You can go everywhere and you will find music that was written in Spanish,” he told The Associated Press in an interview. “I’m happy to see that (Spanish) opens doors to places that I never thought that we could get before.”

His award-winning latest album, “Tinta y tiempo” (“Ink and time”), earned him four of his 13 Latin Grammy Awards, part of a haul that includes an Oscar.

On his tour Drexler will perform live for the first time “Derrumbe,” a song about the loss of love that he rescued from his notes. The song was included in the 2021 TV show “Todo va a estar bien”.

The European tour will be more intimate than the shows of recent years, with voice, guitar and an open repertoire — a "first date” with an audience that Drexler expects will be seeing him for the first time.

“I have always looked West," he said, with performances in the United States, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. “I have so much work in that part of the world that I didn’t look East enough.”

He looks forward to seeing some European cities for the first time and visiting others such as Paris and Berlin after many years. The tour will take him to Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Sweden, among other countries.

After the tour ends in mid-June, he will return to the leather armchair in his studio in Madrid to sit with a guitar and a blank piece of paper and “try to get lucky.”

But as his repertoire grows, songwriting becomes more complicated because “the more you release, the more space that occupies in your brain,” Drexler said.

“Once you’ve written 200 or 300 songs, each and every new song has to open a little space,” he said.

Resorting to artificial intelligence is not an option, at least for now. He tested ChatGPT and, although the result “was perfectly written, from a syntactic, orthographic point of view,” it lacked poetry.

“I like biographies and I like songwriters, and I like to get to know the personality of a person. And I like the mistakes that guide you through unexpected places. So, I still prefer songs written by human beings,” he said.

Drexler also enjoys collaborations in the creative process, such as the ones with C.Tangana, Rubén Blades, or Noga Erez in his previous album.

“It’s a relief for me, it relieves me from myself," he said. "My worst enemy when it comes to writing is my past, my obsessions, the way I work. It’s what I am. And I’m happy to show it, but at the same time, it’s a big, big burden.”

In collaborating, there are no restrictions in the kind of music or the generations that listen.

“I don’t think that the music we did in the past was the (good) music, like most of my generation," Drexler said. “(I’m) more interested in the music that my 12-year-old daughter listens to than the one that my generation used to listen to. So I try to be open to different things.”

This story has been updated to correct the number of Latin Grammys Drexler won for the album Tinta y tiempo” (“Ink and time”) and removes a reference to the song “Derrumbe” being new.

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler poses during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler attends an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler attends an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler poses during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler attends an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler poses during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting with Israeli leaders on Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.

He has said Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal off the ground.

Blinken is on his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October in his bid to secure what’s been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas that could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering.

The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on one key issue — whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal.

“We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Blinken told Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog at a meeting in Tel Aviv.

“There is a proposal on the table, and as we’ve said, no delays, no excuses,” he said.

The deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, Blinken said.

As part of his visit, Blinken will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the State Department, he will also meet with the families of hostages and visit an Israeli port where aid for Gaza is entering.

Blinken’s comments came on the last leg of his regional visit, with previous stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where he urged Hamas to accept the latest proposal, calling it “extraordinarily generous” on Israel’s part.

But the United States has also criticized Israel for its plan to invade Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering from fighting elsewhere, saying that any major offensive there would bring potential harm to civilians and should be avoided.

Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade Rafah, which he says is Hamas’ last stronghold, and on Tuesday’s pledged to do so “with or without” a cease-fire deal.

The current deal that is being discussed — with brokering by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — would see the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a six-week halt in fighting as part of an initial phase, according to an Egyptian official and Israeli media. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would also be released, including some serving long sentences.

But a sticking point remains over what happens next. Hamas has demanded assurances that an eventual release of all hostages will bring a complete end to Israel’s nearly seven-month assault in Gaza and a withdrawal of its troops from the devastated territory.

Israel has offered only an extended pause, vowing to resume its offensive once the first phase of the deal is over. The issue has repeatedly obstructed efforts by the mediators during months of talks.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and shut slogans during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Israel Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and flags during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A woman holds a banner with families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and flags during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and flags during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog shake hands during their meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

Mourners carry the bodies of members of the Abu Taha family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at Al-Salam cemetery, east of Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 28, 2023. Netanyahu pledged Tuesday, April 30 to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, just as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

A woman holds a banner and shouts slogans with families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog talk during their meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)