Orquídeas

by Uchis,Kali

Overview

In 2020, Kali Uchis released Sin Miedo (Del Amor y Otros Demonios) ¿, her first Spanish-language album. Greeted by her label with trepidation, they strongly advised her not to release a foreign-language album saturated in cumbia, boleros, and jazz-pop romanticos. The label declined to promote it, and it didn't chart. Uchis was vindicated when the track "Telepatía" was used in a TikTok lip-sync challenge and garnered more than a billion streams. At 2022's Latin American Music Awards, the singer/songwriter told reporters she'd finished her third and fourth albums, one in English and one in Spanish. The soulful Red Moon in Venus was in English and debuted at number four on in the Top 200. Orquídeas, its simultaneously recorded companion, is a mirror-image opposite in many ways -- save for that voice and iconic vocal phrasing. All but one track is in Spanish, and it reflects her love of elegantly funky R&B, dembow, bolero, jazzy salsa, and reggaeton. While its production style is as dreamy as Red Moon's, it's also eerier, a nocturnal set for dreamers and dancers. The album's 14 tracks offer several collaborations reflecting her stylistic ambitions. Furthermore, she includes soft emotive vocal choruses in elegant, hooky midtempo songs to satisfy early fans during this creative evolution. Opener "¿Cómo Así?" touches on Red Moon's production style for gentle continuity. The jam offers double-timed beats, layered vocal choruses, and ambient electronics. "Igual Que un Ángel" with Peso Pluma offers bumping R&B with ethereal synths and tight beats, governed by a rubbery post-disco bassline framing swooning, romantic lyrics. "Diosa" melds club-floor electronica with jazzy soul and syncopated merengue. The single "Te Mata" is a steamy, sensual string-drenched bolero that contrasts with the edgy urbano beats on perreo jam "Muñekita," which features raps by dembow heavyweight El Alfa and JT from American hip-hip duo City Girls. (JT raps a Spanish nursery rhyme like she's delivering a criminal indictment.) The track samples from the chorus of 2003's "Papi Chulo" by Lorna. The English-language "Young Rich & In Love" is pillowy with a warm, edgy bassline that underscores the resonant eroticism in its lyrics. The hit single "Labios Mordidos" with Karol G weds reggaeton, hip-hop, and electro-cumbia under a sharp, vampy synth line. "Tu Corazón Es Mío" is a soul-tiged romantico with slippery backbeats, layered strings, and vocal production that recalls the golden years of Philadelphia International. Rauw Alejandro and Uchis render "No Hay Ley Parte 2" as a sterling progressive reggaeton, layering son and EDM atop its sharp-edged perreo strut. Closer "Dame Beso // Muévete" offers orchestral accompaniment as it walks a tightrope between Mexican bolero, Cuban salsa, and Colombian funk, framed with futurist horns. On Orquídeas, Uchis remains true to herself by restlessly expanding her music's stylistic reach, embracing the past as instructor to the present. It is as aesthetically appealing as it is musically adventurous. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	01/12/2024
Label:	Geffen
UPC:	0602458498882
Rank:	4451

Tracks

1. ¿Cómo Así?
2. Me Pongo Loca
3. Igual Que Un Ángel
4. Pensamientos Intrusivos
5. Diosa
6. Te Mata
7. Perdiste
8. Young Rich & In Love
9. Tu Corazón Es Mío¿
10. Muñekita
11. Labios Mordidos
12. No Hay Ley Parte 2
13. Heladito
14. Dame Beso // Muévete

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kali Uchis   Primary Artist
Peso Pluma   Primary Artist
Rauw Alejandro   Primary Artist
Karol G   Primary Artist
JT   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
El Alfa   Primary Artist