Buscabulla, made in New York

Latin music continues to conquer the global charts with unbridled creativity. This is particularly true of reggaeton, hailing from Puerto Rico like Raquel Berríos and Luis Alfredo del Valle. Together under the name Buscabulla, they were even invited by their fellow citizen and superstar of the genre, Bad Bunny, on the phenomenal Un verano sin ti in 2022. This collaboration will likely direct a few million listeners to Se amaba así , only the second album from the duo, who have been active for a decade.

But the echoes of reggaeton are incidental. Rather, one can hear multiple Latin American influences exhumed from the last century, as well as fusions fomented by the Nuyorican diaspora, of which the Brooklyn-based forty-somethings are the continuators. Buscabulla claims to combine his Caribbean extraction with globalized trends, a double culture staged in Mi marido , introduced by an excerpt from Paquitín Soto's bolero Se vende un corazón (1999) before transforming into a cutting-edge R'n'B. In the opening, El camino revives the rock romanticism of the 80s (Mecano in Spain, Soda Stereo in Argentina, Legião Urbana in Brazil) while Divino tesoro sounds like a cosmic cha-cha-cha. Later, De lejito diverts the timbales from salsa, while Te fuiste adopts the electropop codes of the moment. The whole thing rests on a bed of synthesizers whose textures evoke those of the producer El Guincho, on El mal querer by Rosalía for example. Raquel Berríos sings the majority of the tracks, whose lyrics tell the torments of her relationship like all couples, with a vaporous voice forcing the drama. Even if air holes ( El empuje and Mortal sung by Luis Alfredo) threaten its balance on the edge of good and bad taste, Se amaba así , as kitsch as it is refined, diffuses a venom that stuns over the course of listening. Thus Buscabulla adds its disturbing charm to the sparkling vein that constitutes Latin pop.

Lead singer of the Argentinian band Soda Stereo until 1997, he launched a successful solo career with this electronic-influenced rock album. His untimely death in 2014 shocked the country.

The Spanish producer excels on his third album, a sort of tropical, half-dance synth-pop, flashy like an 80s neon look. Of course, Rosalía recruited him.

The Argentinian duo, discovered thanks to a Tiny Desk, dynamite Latin pop, jazz-funk, rap, and electro with irresistible mischief. Their recent EP Papota, their music videos, their concerts... everything is brilliant.