125 songs and albums submitted for review
Otra noche de Llorar, single by Mon Laferte. From the new Femme Fatale album, this song starts out like a smoky cocktail lounge crooner, but Laferte quickly cuts loose with her unmistakable voice to bring power and urgency to the song. Then it drifts back down to the cocktail lounge. But she can’t stay there – she soars and pleads and sends lightning bolts through your ears before leaving you with a soft caress. Whew. Spanish. Stream everywhere.
Delusional, single by Erika de Casier. Portuguese-born Danish singer, songwriter, and record producer. From the new album Lifetime, “Delusional” combines a sweet feminine voice, dreamy composition, and orchestration, with ethereal production into a song that carries you along in the clouds. Sung in English, it tells of the realization that another person’s romantic expectations are unrealistic and one‑sided, and pushes back against that “delusional” view of the relationship. Lovely, dreamy. Stream on major platforms.
Dolce, single by Cazzu. This is a risky new step for Cazzu; her first step into corridos tumbados (modern Mexican trap ballads), blending that style with her urban/trap background in a way that sounds natural and faithful to the genre – a neat trick! The lyrics fuse love and vengeance with an empowered, angry tone that uses heartbreak as fuel for self‑assertion and pleasure, reinforcing Cazzu’s image as a disruptive, feminist voice in Latin urban music (she denies that it is about her breakup with Christian Nodal). And it works. Spanish. Stream on major platforms.
Amiga Date Cuenta, single byHa*sh and Thalia. The song kicks off with earworm vocals and holds onto you from there. A powerful female‑empowerment anthem about friendship, self‑love, and having the courage to leave a bad relationship with the support of your friends – a kind of “wake‑up call” from one friend to another. I would call it a new anthem in Ha*Ash’s catalog, and the combo with Thalia is frosting on the cake. Spanish. Stream on major platforms.
Tiempos Dorados, single by Julieta Vanegas. “Tiempos Dorados” follows Julieta’s acclaimed album ‘Tu Historia,’ which won a Latin GRAMMY in 2023. Here she blends her melodic pop songwriting with her roots in northern Mexico with norteño instrumentation like requinto, trombone, and brass and wind instruments. The lyrics delicately bridge intimacy and present-day reality in a way that is uniquely intimate, luminous, and emotionally mature. Only Vanegas could so smoothly reinvent herself without losing her characteristic melodic “seal.” Another hit for a leading lady of Mexican music. Spanish. Stream everywhere.
Dopamine Jamie XX Remix, single by Robyn. The Swedish musician’s first single following the release of her 2018 album “Honey.” Built on her trademark processed voices and arpeggiated synthesizers, it is both experimental and comfortable. It pulses, electrifies, tickles, and shifts around, but never so much that it leaves you behind – it is the rare dance pop that transmits real emotion. It comes at/to you like a triumphant comeback for Robyn, and I think it will be one of the standout pop singles of the year. And I love the concept – experiencing intense love and lust, but passing it off as “just dopamine”- recognizing her feelings as a neurochemical rush, which gives the song a self‑aware but kind of bittersweet edge. Stream on all major platforms.
Patrik O’Heffernan
