It’s Valentine’s Day, and — to no one’s surprise — we’re deep in our feelings. Hell, after the baby-making nostalgia of this past weekend’s Super Bowl halftime show, how could we not be? But artists across Latin America’s ever-fertile and always-inspiring indie universe are also feeling the body heat, making this a reliable annual source for blushing new tunes. It’s the real reason for the season!
Ranging from exuberant love songs to devastating heartbreakers, we’ve compiled a bouquet of brand-new tracks, music videos, and EPs from some of our favorite rising Latine names just in time for Valentine’s Day. Keep scrolling and get into Ecuadorian sweetheart ballads, Mexican fuckboi confessions, and Dominican pop odes to letting go of love and consumerism, with so much more in between.
Mediopicky - “Canción Genérica de San Valentin”
Dominican rapper and producer Mediopicky is one of the freshest and most confounding creative minds working today. Just last year, he popped up on Diego Raposo‘s acclaimed debut album for some gothic wails on “El Underground,” and we named his cheeky dig at short-term pop memory “R0s4L14 no se invento ese sonidito” one of our top dembow tracks of 2023. So it makes perfect sense he would drop an equally acerbic electropop takedown of Valentine’s Day consumerism titled “Canción Genérica de San Valentin.” Sounding like Rauw Alejandro’s “Todo De Ti” run through a vaporwave filter, the music video comes complete with kitschy teddy bears, rose petals, and prolonged clips of Mediopicky dancing cheekily in his underwear like nobody’s watching.
Gabriela Triste - “Venus”
Salvadoran e-girl turned underground fashion icon Gabriela Triste has unveiled her newest era as a pop grunge provocateur with a new single titled “Venus.” Using the carnivorous plant as a metaphor for all-consuming romances, as well as her refusal to be swallowed whole, the singer hums mockingly at her suffocating suitor over buzzing punk guitars. The Marian Cabezas-directed music video sees Gabriela Triste running through downtown San Salvador, fleeing overbearing embraces and venting her frustrations into vintage telephones and torn-up teddy bears.
Lena Dardelet, Krystale - “Tarde o Temprano”
French-Dominican singer-songwriter Lena Dardelet has carved her place in the island’s indie scene with effervescent singles embracing homegrown rhythms like bachata, merengue, and dembow. However, her latest release “Tarde o Temprano” is a bold move towards experimental indie pop, with angelic guest vocals from Krystale and throbbing production by rapper and studio wiz Okeiflou. The song delves into a romance that’s running out of time, contrasting delicate piano progressions and darker 808s to capture the chaos and beauty of emotional collapse.
Letelefono – “Ultra Bonella”
Maybe it’s pop culture cynicism, maybe we’re just tired of disappointment, but Hollywood love stories don’t hit like they used to. That doesn’t mean honest-to-goodness romance is dead, and Ecuador’s Letelefono delivered one of the most beautiful ballads of 2024 thus far with “Ultra Bonella.” Naming the song after a popular brand of margarine, singer Leo Espinoza’s buttery falsetto unspools a love ignited and extinguished by circumstance, pleading with his missed connection in hopes of rekindling was as once there.
Marineros - “A Toda Velocidad”
Love comes at you fast, and it always leaves its mark, for better or worse. Such is the case of “A Toda Velocidad,” one of the stand-out singles from Marineros’ latest LP Al calor de un sol que acaba de morir. The song opens on the line “Un corazón roto es un amuleto,” recalling the memories and lessons we cherish in the wake of heartbreak. A new black and white music video directed by Antonia Sánchez plunges the melancholy dagger a little bit deeper, exploring deep longing between lovers on a collision course, portrayed by actresses Marahui Cáardenas and Nerea Polymeris.
Amantina - “Amuleto”
Following up his swaggy, lurching perreo bop “Caminito de Economía,” Colombian crooner Amantina is back in our ears with a stripped-down slice of earnest R&B titled “Amuleto.” The atmospheric stream of consciousness finds the singer fessing up to fuckboi antics, grappling with the finality of a romance that has run its course but still clings perilously to his heartstrings and DMs.
Gaby de los Santos - “Nuevo Día”
Though we first met Gaby de los Santos as a rising Dominican folk star, her forthcoming album Buenas Intenciones plunges valiantly into grunge and ’90s alt-rock. The first taste of this new era is “Nuevo Día,” a harrowing supplication for the return of a former lover who has left the picture. Feverish longing crescendoes over fluttering guitars and atmospheric synths as de los Santos watches days fade into nights, wrapped up in a story of obsession that doesn’t promise any happy endings.
Crymes - “BBY NU”
On their new single “BBY NU,” Mexico City boy band Crymes is unpacking the darker side of being a player, flexing on revolving paramours while acknowledging the deep loneliness that comes with avoiding meaningful human connection. Conjuring imagery of fallen angels and Y2K-era R&B, the chilango crew might be the new sadboys to watch, delivering excellent V-Day moping music.
Slaynico – “Trapsoul”
On his debut EP LOVEBOY, Chilean R&B and trap romantic Slaynico uses his heart as a rose-tinted lens to view a complex world of emotion. Early singles “Rebeldía” and “Ansiedad” explore the spectrum from giddy butterflies-in-the-stomach to the numbing silence of heartbreak, while the mini album’s final gem arrives with the smoldering baby-making vibes of “Trapsoul.” Slow and sultry, the track ponders life as a paramour’s plaything, though not necessarily mad about being wrapped around their finger.