RS Latin Picks: Week of August 24th
Could your weekend playlist use a little more seasoning? Rolling Stone Latin selects some of the best new music releases from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Keep track of the latest in Latin via our playlist on Spotify.
Sebastián Yatra, Álvaro Díaz, “A Dónde Van”
Colombian pop prince Sebastián Yatra and Puerto Rican MC Álvaro Díaz uncover their earthy, sensitive sides in the acoustic guitarratón ballad, “A Dónde Van,” or “Where Do They Go?” The title poses a striking question: “Where do kisses go when they are given?/I love you, you did not know how to accept it/And the looks that you do not return anymore/I want to get them back.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBK8q096EWI
Cazzu, “Miedo”
Argentina’s reigning trap queen, Cazzu, launched a surprise EP on Thursday night titled Una Niña Inutil, or, A Useless Girl. Written and produced during the quarantine, her velveteen slow jam, “Miedo,” sees Cazzu turn the lights down low and channel some Nineties R&B sensuality.
De La Ghetto, Nicky Jam, “Sube La Music”
Reggaeton heavyweight champ De La Ghetto unleashed an 18-track rager of an album on Friday — a raucous jaunt titled Los Chulitos. The bill of guest stars reads like a who’s-who of the Caribbean movimiento: including Darell, El Alfa, Jowell y Randy, Arcángel and many more. In the Nicky Jam-assisted “Sube La Music,” De La pumps up the volume and evokes a Wayne Wonder melody to woo a very special lady in Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w3J6jX4kv0
Los Blenders, “Perdidos En Pantitlán”
In a Latin music landscape dominated by dembow, it doesn’t hurt to shred every once in a while. Mexico City players Los Blenders tell a gothic post-punk tale about getting extorted by a policeman — a scene that’s all too common in Mexico. “Don’t disappear us,” pleads singer Archie Archer in Spanish. “We just wanted to have fun.” The song is featured on their upcoming third studio album, Mazunte 2016, out September 25th.
Lao Ra, “Suena Taz”
As evident from both Latin pop charts and any given Spotify playlist, Colombia has no shortage of pop talent. Waiting in the wings, however, is singer-songwriter Lao Ra, and her inimitably sultry lilt. The darkly tropical “Suena Taz” is the third installment in her trilogy of songs about toxic love, and the murky lines distinguishing an abuser from the abused. “Suena Taz is the sound of a bed hitting a wall. I wanted to draw an image of someone you love having sex with someone else in the room next door, and all you hear is the ‘taz, taz,’ of the bed on the wall. It’s a metaphor for hearing the echoes of an ex-lover’s new relationship from another room.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJX6lfC_KEc
Diamante Eléctrico, “Los Chicos Si Lloran”
Off their upcoming album, Mira Lo Que Me Hiciste Hacer (Look What You Made Me Do), Bogotá rockers Diamante Eléctrico surface with new song “Los Chicos Si Lloran,” or “Boys Do Cry”: a sassy clarion call to all those who defy traditional gender roles. “[The song] is an invitation from boys to boys to reassert and understand ourselves as men, to understand our role, and to release many things that we were taught to be right,” wrote the band in a statement. “We are tired of so much pain due to this lack of tolerance for the vulnerability that we have as men, the Latin American macho-men we were told to act upon.”