El Diablo en el Cuerpo

Chilean producer and pop star Alex Anwandter pulls off a neat trick on his 2023 album El diablo en el cuerpo. He melds classic sounds from multiple genres and eras into a thoroughly updated take on pop music thats inclusive and just the right mix of sleek and heartfelt. The record is also just left of center enough to escape any hint of sounding cookie-cutter or overly familiar. Its true that many of his contemporaries make a habit of grabbing sweet treats like sweeping strings and 4/4 rhythms from 70s disco and glittering synth pop grooves from 80s pop while tapping deeply into a radio-friendly, post-2000s anything-goes mentality, but few do it with the melodic grace, precise production, and calm self-assurance that Anwandter displays throughout this album. The record plays out like an instruction manual on how to make nonreductive 2020s pop as he exhibits serious dancefloor moves on uptempo tracks like the disco-fied "Precipicio" and the giddy "Unx de nosotrxs," shines like the midday sun on the irrepressibly perky "Pueblo fantasma," swings like George Michael at his loosest on shimmering retro gems ("Toda la noche"), clicks into robotic grooves like he was auditioning for a guest appearance on a Daft Punk album ("Prediciendo la ruina"), and shows off serious soft rock mellowness on "Vamos de nuevo." That last track is a good example of the range of styles and moods Anwandter tackles on the record. As adept as the brighter tracks are, hes also quite good at delving into some serious balladry. "Tienes una idea muy antigua del amor," a duet featuring Julieta Venegas, is deeply emotional and adds some very lush synth-string swells and dashing guitar flourishes, "Despertando" strips away rhythms entirely and lets Anwandters tender vocals shine, and "Tengo una confesion" feels ripped from a heartache montage. El diablo en el cuerpos variety and undeniable proficiency, when paired with the heartbeat-strong emotions on display, make for a very impressive, very re-listenable album thats a good example of just how great pop music can be in the 2020s. ~ Tim Sendra