The Singles Jukebox

Peter's pick proves that we (mostly) still have time for house bangers...

[6.00]

Total writers: 7
Highest score: [9]
Lowest score: [5]
Controversy index: 0.86

Peter Ryan: Lola Índigo's path to Spanish pop prominence has has been a circuitous one, punctuated by nominally-unsuccessful stints (with plenty of time in between) on two reality competition shows (dance comp Fama Revolución in 2010, where she was fourth boot, and first out on the David Bisbal-spawning popstar boot-camp Operación Triunfo in 2017). And so it goes -- ostensibly fueled by sheer force of will, in 2018 she re-launched with a stage name and a double-platinum debut single. She's since notched three #1 albums and eight top-10 singles at home and collaborated with many of the current superstars of global Spanish-language pop, but anecdotally there's a sense that the success might be a little soft, that her songs chart but evaporate quickly. "Corazones Rotos," officially the fourth single from this year's El Dragón, was marginally successful in a couple markets but by no means broke "the curse" (the album's sixth single -- "El Tonto," a more typical reggaeton-lite-pop bit with Madrileño trap juggernaut Quevedo -- finally accomplished that, going quintuple platinum and fast becoming her most popular song on streaming), but I've had it stuck on irrational loop since I heard it in a taxi in January, on a trip with spotty internet and lots of time for it to over-imprint. Índigo gives off a steely disillusionment; she's a slyly effective vocalist, nasality belying the technique and intuitive sense involved in the little grace notes she wedges into syllables, or the weary fry she puts on words like "latas." It nails the bleakness of hurdling headlong into the bad decision, brazenly shooting your shot with someone you know is still hung up on someone else, knowing how it's all going to turn out -- the descending melody on "Nunca / Me equivoco" cuts to the cold heart of it. Both verses start with the singer laying out what they know about the other, or what they want the other to know they know; it's in service of selling a line, but there's a clever friction between Lola's part, which trades in clear-eyed realism as persuasive tactic ("Ya no eres de ella, se acabó el lio / No te asustes, tampoco mío"), and Luis's cliched cajoling, like he's talking to someone else entirely. It's the tragedy of being the same boat but never quite seeing each other, the transitive property of dislocated desire, all over a corny schlager house bosh backdrop (ranking goofy production choices: 1) the first drop that's heavier than it has any reason to be, 2) fake-out second drop; 3) the stupid turntable effect on the word "pide" after the second chorus). It's not that deep -- I'm an easy mark for a minor-key dance anthem with a double bridge and a manipulative melodic sense; El Dragón didn't traffic all that much in this fare and she's already put out another EP in a different lane entirely, but this is about everything I want from a big-label pop confection.
[9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: A complete hodgepodge -- it sounds like the two credited performers brought in separate drafts and tried to weld them together live in the studio, with only middling success. But each individual hook is just good enough, and Fonsi and Indigo are skilled enough interpreters, that "Corazones Rotos" works despite itself.
[6]

Michael Hong: The melody of the pre-chorus feels familiar, but I can't place it. Maybe that's the experience of meeting someone on the dancefloor who faintly resembles someone you still love. Maybe the garage house beat will be enough to erase their existence.
[6]

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