After two forays into reggaeton, Chilean pop chameleon Oddó has returned with a single called “Solo.” This year’s “Nada por quebrar” and last year’s “Sigue Dándome” were squarely pop reggaeton, with progressive tendencies. The latest track is part of this new trajectory while also being something else entirely.
The song lands somewhere between his reggaetonero impulses and the baroque electro pop of his last album, 2013’s Démonos el tiempo. The auto-tuned vocals are less affected than on his previous two stabs, and easier to take. High-end drives the beat on “Solo,” and bass thumps way down low, so it feels like dembow, but isn’t. It’s glossy, complicated pop inspired by reggaeton.
Just as he’s been undergoing a metamorphosis in front of us with this latest run of singles, in the video for “Solo,” he literally transforms himself while we watch. The visual consists entirely of the blued-eyed crooner shaving off his floppy locks with a pair of clippers, ending up with a harder look. The message is that there’s a new Oddó in town. In the end, his expression is defiant and maybe a little hopeful: five percent “hope you like it,” 95 percent “deal with it.”
Reinvention is part of Oddó’s makeup. Compare his guitar-driven debut Déjame dormir to Démonos el tiempo. This is a dramatic change, but “Solo” is a cool and catchy song, and it might announce the beginning of the most interesting chapter of his career yet.
Oddó has also shared his very own Exclusivo playlist – a 22-song collection of reggaeton megahits both old and new. Stream the playlist below: