Ballantine’s Records, a new platform dedicated to supporting local talent in Chile, just put out a marvelous Juan Luis Guerra cover by Guerra Mundial (aka producer Andrés Landon) and Mexico-based artist and recent Pulsar Award winner Mariel Mariel. Their rendition of “Señales de Humo,” the Dominican legend’s 1992 hit single glides through elements from different music styles, but manages to keep – and even pump up – the romance from the original.
The song launches with a trap beat and Mariel adopting a Migos-style flow. The little samples and guitar lines sometimes give it an old-school hip hop feeling, but that energy mellows out as Mariel sings the melodies with almost note-by-note auto-tuned accuracy. The journey takes us through timid EDM build-ups and synths, until the magnificent son cubano section rears its head. Mariel and Guerra Mundial didn’t want to entirely rework this section; they actually wanted to embrace it, which is great, because the original Areíto cut is so beautiful. Of course, it’s updated and a little sweeter coming from the Chilean singer’s mouth.
If you want to help Guerra Mundial and Mariel Mariel record a music video for the song, vote for them in this contest.
Update, 6/17/2016, 7:04 p.m.: This post has been updated to reflect that this cover is a collaboration between Guerra Mundial and Mariel Mariel.