Latin pop has gone through many permutations and evolutionary changes over the last decade, becoming a new frontier in the creative arts. Rosalía Vila Tobella provides yet another direction on her sophomore full-length, El Mal Querer (The Evil Will). The Catalan-born, Barcelona-based singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer gained a Latin Grammy nomination for her 2017 date, Los Ángeles, an album that offered her own stripped-down take on flamenco and won her fans among the most popular artists in Latin pop – including J Balvin, who enlisted her as a collaborator on his Top 20 single "Brillo" from Vibras.
Blending trip-hop beats with the music of India, International Times features occasional vocals with an Eastern flair and worldbeat samples to spice up the multi-cultural brew.
Having trimmed most of the synths and samples from 2015’s Hasta la Raíz, offbeat Mexican singer/songwriter Natalia Lafourcade gets truly intimate on the hushed and haunting Musas. Collaborating with Los Macorinos, a virtuoso guitar duo who spin impossibly gorgeous melodies throughout, Lafourcade once again blends dreamy indie pop (“Te Vi Pasar”) with swooning bossa nova (“Soledad y el Mar”). But she also strips her style down to the acoustic essentials, building many arrangements around her angelic voice and little else. Always charming, occasionally heartbreaking, Musas is another unexpected twist from a deceptively sweet and decidedly ambitious artist. Musas received a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.