It used to be the case that Latin American pop acts started their careers singing in Spanish, but only hit true global success when they switched to English. Look at Shakira and Ricky Martin’s trajectories. Today, either the stars don’t bother with English at all – recently both Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny and the Colombian Karol G set records as the first male and female acts to hit number one in the US with a Spanish language album – or, like Kali Uchis, they flit seamlessly between Spanish and English with no adverse effect on their sales figures.
Born Karly-Marina Loaiza, the American singer with Colombian roots has now made two predominantly English albums and two (including this one) that are mostly sung in Spanish. Her biggest hit, the TikTok favourite Telepatía, mixed both. This time non-Spanish speakers will notice the odd line popping up here and there: “When you’re too real you make enemies,” she sings over warm synth washes and a dance beat on Me Pongo Loca, but her voice is so soft and breathy that even when you no comprendes, everything has a sunny, beach-ready appeal.
She’s in her comfort zone for many of the 14 songs. Synths twinkle, basslines are smooth and fluid, and there’s a soft-focus grooviness to tracks such as Igual Que Un Ángel and Heladito. But later in the album she hurls herself fully into some other styles. Dame Beso/Muévete is a hip-swinging, retro merengue tune. Te Mata is a high drama ballad draped in vintage strings so romantic that she might as well be singing with a rose between her teeth. On the racing single, MunÌekita, she teams up with the Dominican dembow rapper El Alfa. The haunting chorus of Labios Mordidos is shared with Karol G – one of the most streamed artists in the world last year – over a crunching reggaeton rhythm.
It's less than a year since her last album, Red Moon in Venus, which had an unhurried R&B feel and generated an appealingly hazy atmosphere without any obvious standout songs. There’s a lot more energy here, especially on the dancefloor-friendly reggaeton of No Hay Ley Parte 2, which adds heavy beats and an Auto-Tuned verse from Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro to a single she released in 2022. This time it sounds like she wants to join her fellow Spanish speakers as one of the world’s biggest sellers. That’s entirely possible.
