20 New Songs to Listen to This Week From Matt Louis to Cypress Hill

If seeing the track title “JUANGA” makes you think of Mexican legend Juan Gabriel, then rest assured that’s entirely intentional. Puerto Rican alt-R&B artist Matt Louis named his newest single as such because, in his words, he wanted to evoke the “golden age” when artists centered themselves in their music, using their powerful voices to heighten the melodrama of their lyrics. In this song, Matt puts that idea on its head, noting how centering yourself in a relationship and imposing your own terms for receiving love can easily blindside and hurt you in return. Matt’s music has never lacked in raw emotion, and this is another example of what makes him stand out. — Juan J. Arroyo

You’ll have a hard time meeting someone who’ll dispute Cypress Hill’s influence on Latine hip-hop. However, they’re just about to release their first-ever Spanish-language album of all original material. Lucky for us, it all indicates it’s going to be worth the wait. “Campeones” is the first taste, and it goes out of its way to punctuate latinidad thanks to a beat adorned with norteño-style accordion melodies. The rhyming is as cold as you’d expect it, but there’s an added layer of excitement with a verse by Rap En Tu Idioma pioneer Mellow Man Ace, bringing a full circle to this historic event. — Marcos Hassan

Mexican-American DJ and producer Deorro released his newest 11-track album, Botas & Rave. Its focus party single is “El Feo,” featuring an EDM-charged nostalgic norteño song with playful lyrics about being the ugly duckling. With Deorro’s signature high energy, “El Feo” reflects his mission of reclaiming his Mexican roots in the EDM space, giving his listeners a fun electronic tune meshed with quebradita that’s just as club-ready as it is quinceañera-ready. What makes the track different from the rest is that it spotlights traditional música mexicana elements like the accordion while injecting a full electronic sound and lively chants, whistles, and claps that take the energy to the next level. What can we say? If there’s someone who accurately captures Latine culture under an EDM lens, it’s Deorro. – Jeanette Hernandez

“Loyalty 4 Ever RMX” is less a remix and more a defining link between generations, uniting pillars and rising voices of Latine trap under one uncompromising theme: loyalty. Spearheaded by Hanzel La H and backed by heavyweights like Arcángel, Ñengo Flow, and Kendo Kaponi, alongside newer forces Hades66 and Luar La L, the track bridges eras without diluting its edge. Each verse reinforces a code of brotherhood rooted in the streets, where respect is earned and alliances are tested. The production leans into a raw, unfiltered energy that feels intentional, allowing each artist’s voice to cut through with clarity and conviction. Rather than chasing trends, the record builds on legacy while amplifying the present moment. It stands as both a statement and a checkpoint for the genre in Puerto Rico, signaling continuity, evolution, and shared identity. – Natasha Melina Argudo

Inviting us to put our hands up right away, a slow-paced rhythm that provides space for every instrument to shine is led by the virtuous accordion of La Coreañera. And though the Texas-born artist has quickly earned her spot within the cumbia scene in Mexico, she respectfully asks the more experienced band members and audience, “Cómo Se Baila”? Along with an understated yet powerful electric guitar and a percussion that grips you firmly, La Coreañera shares her experience of being overcome by the power of cumbia. In the music video, we see her learning classic and iconic cumbia moves, which she picks up quickly and performs then charmingly while still tearing up that accordion. Showcasing the uniting power of music and presenting her fresh and addictive take on this genre, La Coreañera gifts us the perfect excuse to ask the person who caught your eye on the dancefloor: “Cómo Se Baila?” – La Morra Lisa

London-based Guatemalan artist Gabriel Dinero just gave us his first single of the year, and it’s another step in his exploration of honesty and rawness through music. “No Me Importa (Lo Que Digas)” shows Gabriel surrendering to the things he can’t change from his reality, finding empowerment and liberation, but that doesn’t mean memories from what used to be won’t come rushing. Armed with his acoustic guitar, he gives us a fuller sound with instrumentation that feels light and celebratory, unexpected production twists, and just the right amount of nostalgia, and everything comes together to back up this realization. – Cheky

Continuing her streak of regional ballads with a personal, softer touch of style, Mexicali-based artist RIA returns with another exploration of self-doubt and heartbreak. RIA is one of the brightest new voices in the new wave of música mexicana artists, tapping into the genre’s passionate, traditional production qualities while showcasing a progressive touch with her soft yet booming vocals. Gearing up for a larger project to follow her debut EP, “No Creo” is another display of gut-wrenching vocals, laced with near emotional songwriting to match. “No Creo” loosens the straps on the softer production tendencies of RIA’s earlier singles for a more gritty guitar, without sacrificing the tenderness of the lyrics or her vocal melodies. “No Creo” also brings in Sinaloa multihyphenate Armenta, the first artist to be featured on a RIA track, and he sets the bar for future features solely based on energy and how well the two flow off one another. It unveils the potential between the two and lights a match to an incredible chemistry between two dynamic personalities that play off one another effortlessly. – Alan Baez

Colombia knows how to party, and La Valentina is packaging that sentiment in her latest release “Celoso y Lokito.” Bottling up the energy of a live performance into a more studio sound, she presents a single that feels built for movement first and everything else second. With the help of Tonio 8cho, they produce a blend of Brazilian funk bounce meets ampiano-inspired basslines that pack an immediate force, as the lyrics promote an empowering and lively ode to the women not afraid to take up space. Between lines and their delivery, her latest releases opens up a vessel for La Valentina to carry the aura of someone who recognizes the beauty in confidence and knowing she’s that girl. And will have you moving until you believe it too. — Jeanette Diaz

With her jazz-rock band Buha 2030, Colombian singer-songwriter Gabriela Ponce has honed a signature melange of folk incisiveness and freewheeling Andean orchestras. But on her forthcoming solo EP, Ponc Ponc Ponc, out June 19, the playful troubadour dances on the punk edge, plunging her inner ruminations into the noisy abyss. The lead single “Tan No Futuro” sources its haunting, echoing mood from the aftermath of a defunct friendship, distilling hope from heartbreak with lines like, “Quiero vivir! Hoy no me muero; me muero cuando me llame el suelo.” Produced with Ecuadorian indie pop bastion Felipe Le, lead singer of La Máquina Camaleón, Ponce’s newest era promises a more ferocious, high-concept ride than ever before. — Richard Villegas

After years of helping to shape Brazil’s current music scene as a producer and singer-songwriter, Josefe steps into the spotlight with “Herejía/Heresia,” an intimate single that transforms heartbreak into some kind of reckoning with one’s own feelings. Rooted in the emotional aftermath of a breakup, the track lingers on the disorientation of losing someone once placed on a pedestal and adored like a deity. What elevates the song is its delicate interplay between Portuguese and Spanish. Rather than a simple translation, Josefe lets each language carry its own emotional weight. The result is a bilingual tapestry of longing and vulnerability. With echoes of Latin American lyricism and a minimalist, voice-and-guitar core, “Herejía/Heresia” doesn’t just tell a story of loss, it lets it resonate across borders, proving that some feelings are too complex for just one language. – Júlia Henn

Over the course of the past decade, Los Olmos have achieved a rare feat in Puerto Rico’s indie rock scene: they’ve become one of the most celebrated bands of their generation (at home, ‘natch) with no albums and hardly any true singles. The ensemble is rooted in post-rock, and has made a name for itself with theatrical live presentations buoyed by mezzosoprano lead singer Gabrielle Timofeeva and instrumentations that feature everything from violins to mandolins and more. Their long-awaited debut (quote-unquote) album is due soon, and “Santa Teresa” marks their first official music video. It’s a unique arc for any group, but as their own saying goes: Los Olmos isn’t merely a band but an experience.— Juan J. Arroyo

Considering the high levels of drama it displays, epic doom metal is a perfect fit for musicians from the land of flamenco, and this band fits the bill right to its name. Alcarria, Spain’s TodoMal plays heavy, slow, melodic, and deeply melancholic metal that will have fans of the genre headbanging with approval and newcomers sighing delightfully with sorrow. “Point of Coalescence” demonstrates the best of their traits: their layered guitars evoke dark ambiance worthy of a gothic romance, while the vocals are clear and emotive enough to engage listeners who are curious about slow riffs but haven’t ventured to the shadows yet. — Marcos Hassan

Are bad bitch cumbias the next thing? High synths, tribal and guaracha influences, and Vanita Leo’s signature and coquette vocals make “De Una Vez” a new track to listen to this week. With flirty and unapologetic kiss-off lyrics, the rising Mexican-American singer puts her ex in their place, all while giving us an infectious cumbia to dance to. Featuring a siren mantra-like chorus singing, “Ya, supérame / Papi, no te quiero ver / Ya, supérame / Búscate otra mujer / Ya, supérame / Papi, no te quiero ver / Ya, supérame / La última fue la de ayer,” Vanita Leo reclaims her single baddie energy just in time for summer. Point blank: 2026 is all about letting go of the “pinche vato,” as she rightfully calls her past loser lover. –Jeanette Hernandez

In “Desde Que Tú No Estás,” Indy Fontaine steps into a delicate, emotional space that many artists gesture toward, but few fully inhabit: the quiet and unspoken side of grief. This is not a dramatic lament, but a restrained, almost whispered confession of absence. With its gentle tropical undertones, the song contrasts warmth in sound with the cold permanence of loss, capturing the dissonance of continuing daily life when something essential is missing. Fontaine’s inspiration, drawn from solitude in nature, translates into lyrics that feel intimate rather than performative. Each line lands like a memory you did not expect to revisit. What makes the track compelling is its refusal to resolve grief neatly. Instead, it lingers in that in-between space of longing and acceptance. In doing so, Fontaine offers listeners not closure, but recognition, and sometimes that is more powerful.– Natasha Melina Argudo

“Omaigach” captures the exact feeling of coming back into a party that is already on fire after going for a pick-your-poison break. The dancefloor thumps, the moon in a crescent phase illuminates the ‘90s fashions in vogue—it’s a Mexican beach party. Granada-born Chico Blanco proves once again with his mastery of navigating and blending genres while maintaining the dance and club essence he so naturally dominates. Joined by La Chory de México Girl Ultra, these two powerhouses create a track that invites you to join and surrender to their entrancing yet powerful sound. True to their aversion to being classified into any style and therefore being subjected to the sets of rules those boxes entail, a warning that represents both of them emerges amid the nasty beats: “Be careful with following trends!” – La Morra Lisa

After spending his career releasing music under the names Sentidor and Rio Sem Nome and as a lead in El Toro Fuerte, Brazilian artist João Carvalho is ready to drop Uma Festa no Centro do Vazio, his first album signed under his own name. For the title track, which features guest vocals from Clara Bicho, one of our artists to watch this 2026, Carvalho and his collaborators, including producers Bernardo Bauer and Felipe D’Angelo, turn into hypnotists, giving us a slice of Chicago post-rock filtered through a Brazilian lens. After a sound bath of resonating frequencies, jittery drums and smooth guitars fill the room, and Carvalho uses opposing images to lead us through the natural human search for a connection, be it with other people, places, or a spiritual realm. – Cheky

It’s Debi Nova’s world, and we are truly just living in it. After running the victory lap that was her 2025, studded with a Grammy-nominated album and South American tour, the heart of Costa Rica herself returns with another upbeat pop serving. “Noticia de Ayer” is the follow-up to 2025’s Todo Puede Convertirse en Canción, a first glimpse of the deluxe version, showcasing a number of songs all sharing the same foundation of contemporary pop production with velvet-drenched songwriting. Akin to the songs that made up the initial project, the track features an elevated tempo shift in the production, with warm energy driven by the singer’s upbeat fervor. It’s nostalgic in its early Latine pop sensibilities, but still maintains a refreshing production quality.– Alan Baez

Nothing creates restlessness quite like uncertainty, and Death Lens are bringing that feeling to pure unfiltered life on “Waiting to Know,” a single ahead of their next project What’s Left Now? They tag in Militarie Gun’s Ian Shelton on their latest for an added layer of abrasion, as the track dives into gritty and driving melodic textures that carry a quite anxious rhythm and a sense of urgency that never quite lands, but keeps you fully locked in. Lyrically, it sits in that space where fear and acceptance coexist, circling the same question without ever reaching the end of the thought. With no real resolution in sight, the high-energy track plays like a release valve for that tension, one that’s less about finding answers and more about sitting in the unease of not having them. — Jeanette Diaz

While the highly aesthetic COLORS sessions tend to feature catchy, danceable bops, Ecuadorian art-pop chanteuse LaTorre opted to debut on the platform with an angelic ballad titled “Flor de Sal.” The first teaser off her forthcoming Jardín Secreto EP is a stirring dirge about a love that can weather any storm, like flowers blooming between the pavement cracks. The song’s lurching, asymmetrical march is inspired by the Andean polyrhythms of singer Renata Nieto’s upbringing in the rural province of Chimborazo, bringing a slice of the Ecuadorian countryside to the global stage. — Richard Villegas

The courage needed to face the death of a loved one is explored in “Quanto Amor,” one of the two singles released today by Brazilian singer-songwriter Lucas Filmes. The track tells the story of how Filmes’ father found out about his sickness, the process of battling it, and, in the end, the pain of losing the fight. The main message of the song is that love is all that matters when we get to the end of the line. It feels right that “Quanto Amor” doesn’t feel like a sad or mournful track in its melodies and instruments of choice, instead feeling comfortable and rooted in Brazilian rhythms. It focuses on the joy of having had someone to share the feelings of love with, instead of on the pain of the passing. By writing this song, Filmes found one more way to honor his father and deal with his own grief in a poetic manner. – Júlia Henn