Art by Alan Lopez for Remezcla
Every week, we highlight some of our favorite releases in a handy list. Although we try to cover as much new music as possible, there are so many stellar releases to talk about. Consider this our genre-diverse guide to songs we have on repeat.
Follow our playlist featuring these tracks and more on Spotify or Apple Music.
Chile’s R&B queen Paloma Mami is gifting us one final single before we bid farewell to 2018. Produced by Bad Bunny affiliates DJ Luian and Mambo Kingz, “No Te Enamores” is a dembow-flavored bop that highlights her sensual vocals while reminding fans she is a baddie that cannot be tamed. –Richard Villegas
El Paso’s favorite gloomy boys are giving us one last track before calling it a year. “Neon Moon” is a cover of a song by 90s country duo Brooks and Dunn, and it’s remarkable how well this track incorporates itself to the CAS repertoire. Desolate verses gives way to a slightly bright chorus, and it’s guaranteed to keep you warm these December nights. –Marcos Hassan
Everyone’s favorite Latin trap breakup song has swapped out most of its lineup for yet another remix cycle. This time around, the first minute and a half belongs to J.Lo, sporting some very literal couture in a new video clip. Wisin and Yandel also show up for verses, which means you need to study up to look sharp in the inevitable singalong session that will accompany this remix dynasty’s appearance in the club. –Caitlin Donohue
AAAA is now known for creating some of the most caustic club tracks of our time, so when we learned his next release is a split EP with Soul Edifice in a series called Acid Avengers, we couldn’t wait. His song “Ciudad Rata” is a hellish track that traps you in an industrial maze, and then sprinkles acid on you while you try to get out. –Cheky
Reggaeton and baile funk share many parallels, some of which include a history of class-driven stigma and growing global dance floor dominance, but it’s the boisterous excess of recent years that has led both genres to evolve in a more emotionally vulnerable direction. On “Mozão,” Brazil’s MC Djota puts a delightful romántico spin on the genre’s all-too-familiar bad boy antics, instead baring his soul and professing undying fealty to the girl of his dreams over a sunny baile funk beat and evocative horn arrangements. –Richard Villegas
There’s so much tension and release during “Mitad Fantasma” that you might feel like you’re being chased in a maze of dark streets in a futuristic city. On this track, Santiago de Chile’s Premium Banana channels action movie soundtracks from the late 90s, evoking regulars like Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers. Yet this producer knows how to fit them into our desperate times. –Marcos Hassan
In the middle of his new album AQUA, Chilean singer DrefQuila turns off the light and switches on the smoke machine to tell a girl his love for her has run dry. On “No Vuelvas,” the hollow production complements DrefQuila’s cold rebuke, and it’s a hard pill to swallow when we’re pulled into this goodbye letter to a partner who isn’t ready to part ways. –Cheky
As we’ve come to expect from Andean electronic folk, on Pawkarmayta’s “Supernova,” there’s plenty of ancient instruments coexisting with synths and drum machines in a deep jungle setting. But the Peruvian producer treats this composition as something more than a juxtaposition of modern and folkloric ambient sounds, giving the track a narrative arc that you can dance to. The producer knows how to balance heritage with beats and make compelling, rave-ready music. –Marcos Hassan
Nature and Latin American folklore are two of El Búho’s most beloved passions, and they come together once again on “Picaflor,” the opening track on Camino de Flores, his latest full-length. Featherless Andean flutes paint melodies that exude grass and floral aromas, awakening the connection each of us have with Mother Nature. –Cheky