This is a weekly compilation of bite-sized song & EP reviews from our music writers. Discover new favs, read nuanced criticism of the week’s hottest releases & more. Follow our playlist featuring these tracks and more on Spotify or Apple Music.
Bomba Estéreo - "Conexión Total" (ft. Yemi Alade)
Bomba Estéreo has now dropped Tierra, the third installment of their four elements-inspired EP series, which will later be compiled in Deja, the duo’s first album in four years. The installment includes “Conexión Total,” a fantastic collaboration with Nigerian star Yemi Alade, who joins Li Saumet on vocals to celebrate those moments in which we hit the dancefloor and disconnect from our everyday lives. The upbeat track is a beautiful meeting between Africa and South America. — Cheky
Mene, Nsqk, & Noa Sainz - "Unodostres"
This week, Mexican R&B stars Méne, Nsqk, and Noa Sainz have teamed up for a bouncy new ode to burning hearts and comfy cuddle puddles titled “UNDOSTRES.” Dancing on 808s, wavy synths, and an unshakable hook, the song throbs with giddy energy as each artist offers a glimpse of their own blooming romances and the lengths they’d be willing to go for another night next to that special someone. — Richard Villegas
Combo Chimbita - "Todos Santos"
This New York quartet has always had quite the intensity to their music, yet “Todos Santos” represents a new level to their passion. Invoking Yemaya, mother of all orishas, Carolina Olivares, and company begin their prayer in hushed tones as downtempo electronics give way to subdued-yet-intense percussion and guitars. Olivares gets possessed by the elements to explode in a beautiful voice towards the song’s end, giving us a track as cathartic as their loudest moments on record. — Marcos Hassan
Michi - “Talk Big”
Michi is here and ready to call out the men who talk a big game with nothing to back it up. The sultry R&B single is heavily carried by soul-fueled basslines, alt-pop-inspired synths, and confidently rasping vocals that carry over with a smooth inimitable cool. The overall aesthetics of the track transport us through a captivating late-night experience of full-force seduction that stays hard to reach, putting all unchecked egos to rest. Michi’s latest is here to remind us who’s really here to talk big, and it’s nobody but her. — Jeanette Diaz
Jhay Cortez, Skrillex - "En Mi Cuarto"
Keeping on an overtly pop and yet experimental-ish production, Skrillex has joined forces with Jhay Cortez in this post-EDM track with reggaeton hints. Cortez’s voice comes autotuned, a filtering technique that goes just fine with the smoothened kicks and slick bass lines supporting Skrillex’s beat. The music video — a blend of dark, fired-up rooms and traveling scenes — displays the ambiguous ambitions felt within the song: it could be a club banger, and it could also set the tone for warming up the perreo session. — Felipe Maia
A.Chal - "Dirty Dancin"
Peruvian-born singer A.Chal is back raunchier than ever with his new single “Dirty Dancin,” leaving nothing to the imagination. In under three and a half minutes, he tells a little X-rated, drug-fueled tale of a girl from Sinaloa that gets turned all the way up when she works the pole, backed by a trap-inspired beat and a steamy guitar sample. He’s even asking for the girl’s Cash App, making this serious, people. — Cheky
Chris Conde - "Summertime Heat” prod. El Dusty
Austin, Texas artist Chris Conde has dipped into conscious hip-hop, rap-rock, and experimental, sometimes 8-bit leaning electronic tracks throughout their career. He does it all distinctly well, with compelling bars that cover an unprecedented range of hard-hitting intimacy of their personal history, educational bars on queer ethics, as well as unblushing cheekiness. With “Summertime Heat,” they’ve stepped into electro-cumbia, maybe one of the greatest genre innovations, with the guidance of Corpus Christi genre stalwart El Dusty. Things can go unabashedly extra when the genre is queered, though, and in a fun, jokingly self-aware way that’s a giant smirk from glittered lips lined in rhinestones — and that’s precisely the mood Conde delivers on “Summertime Heat.” — Jhoni Jackson
Sael - "Insuficiente" ft. Beéle
Black Koi Entertainment’s Sael is part of a new generation, a new wave of South-American singers-producers readying themselves to carry the torch from today’s hitmakers. There’s no better proof of his credential in el movimiento than his latest slow-perreo collab “Insuficiente.” The song carries an empowerment message aimed at anyone who had struggled with the feeling of being insufficient to their sentimental partners.
“Insuficiente ” was produced by Sael in collaboration with Taiko and Sky Rompiendo. — Joel Moya
The Red Pears - "Twisted Colours"
Reminding us that rock n’ roll should be a fun experience, The Red Pears seem to be on a mission to remind us what was so great about guitar music in the early ’00s. “Twisted Colours”‘ is detached and cool to a fault, but hooks and riffs with such attitude that are not to be taken for granted, and the band doesn’t spare a moment to deliver some slacker cool vibes along with their grimy yet melodic approach to rock. — Marcos Hassan
Vanessa Garcia - "Not A Love Story"
On her rousing, delightfully charming debut single “Not A Love Story,” Salvadoran singer-songwriter Vanessa García reads between the lines of her heartbreak to try and dispel the lingering cloud of emotion hovering over her mind. The song unfolds in a series of snapshots, from the inability to finish a Netflix show she used to enjoy with her old flame to belting into a crowd only to feel a lover’s absence echoing back. Garcia’s first step into the spotlight is captivating in both its raw vulnerability and cinematic ambitions, hinting at a promising future for the young singer. —Richard Villegas
Zairah x King Doudou - "Guaya"
Zairah takes us on a time-machine trip to a futuristic arm of alpha female reggaeton. She gives us an in-your-face anthem of female sexual empowerment that demands listeners to join in “Guaya” — think perreo but slow it way down. The rhythm is dominated by her promiscuous lyrical prowess as the tempo is sedated while the beats remain heavy thanks to Latin Grammy award-winning producer King Doudou (who is also the mastermind behind J.Balvin’s “Negro”). — Jeanette Diaz
Skepta - “Nirvana” (feat. J Balvin)
Since his first appearances as one of the hottest bar-spitters in the UK, Skepta has made several songs and feature tracks that diverge from the raw and harsh grime London scene. Still, it’s surprising seeing him playing the soft-spoken MC over a calm, downtempo beat as in “Nirvana.” Sided by J. Balvin, whose verses seem to be much more of an attempt to grasp a Latin-oriented audience, the British grime writes about love and manages to play around with his bars, rhyming Spanish and English like suavecito and cheat code. — Felipe Maia
Musaraña - "Munchie Sexual"
More is more is more is more, and the video for Musaraña’s “Munchie Sexual” has a lot: a bathtub full of tostones, some of which fly, rooftop choreo with dancers in outfits you’d imagine might be worn if fiestas patronales were held in outer space, and the Puerto Rican singer’s hair wrapped in rolos made of plantains. Both in sound and visuals, nature and synthetics are juxtaposed to striking effect and over-the-top camp and Latinx tradition clang—the colorful, flashy result is uniquely surreal. — Jhoni Jackson
Grupo Diez 4tro - "24 Horas"
One of the fundamental aspects of building a musical movement is having enough acts pumping out hits after hits. Grupo Diez 4tro, whom we met a few weeks ago, are back with “24 Horas,” a raw drill corrido with enough punch to break your troca’s subwoofer. In less than a year, Grupo Diez 4tro have solidified their status as one of the breakout acts of the corrido’s movement. — Joel Moya