Kali Uchis started off 2024 strong with her new album “ORQUÍDEAS,” which was released on Jan. 12. This album was especially exciting because the last Spanish album she released was four years prior, leaving fans anxious for this drop.
On my first listen, I noticed seamless transitions through songs, which I found impressive because I had to check if it was the same song. The first two songs, “¿Cómo Asi?” and “Me Pongo Loca,” demonstrate this seamless transition with the upbeat drums that catch your attention once you realize that Uchis added this detail to the album. Moving through the album, there were highlight features from Peso Pluma, KAROL G, JT from the City Girls, El Alfa, and Rauw Alejandro. The standout feature that has become one of the most popular songs on her album is “Muñekita (with El Alfa & JT),” and rightfully so, as it has such an influential rhythm that does nothing but make your head bob to it. My favorite parts of the song are when Uchis and El Alfa utilize a ritenuto (a sudden slowing down of the tempo) to catch the attention of the listeners, keeping the song interesting. After slowing for a bit of time, JT’s verse hit and brought the energy back up making an addictive listening experience. This song is definitely on repeat.
Along with this, another top contender for most replayed is “Diosa,” a slower song with a strong beat that mixes Spanish and English, showing off Uchis’ writing skills. What is especially impressive is her ability to rhyme English with Spanish to create a seamless sound that perked my ear when I first listened. In the line “Dándole ofrendas a su diosa every day,” she uses the sound in the ending of the word “Dándole” to rhyme with the ending of “day” in a deliberate way that allows the two words to have this vowel chiming sound. “Diosa” has a sultry sound that mixes perfectly with a common Latin-pop beat that evokes a girls night out, making it the ultimate “get ready” song to listen to with your friends. Uchis switches up the ambiance with the following song “Te Mata,” a drama-filled romance song that draws attention to her outstanding vocals and raw emotion. The versatility that she shows throughout the two different songs demonstrates the range that she possesses as an artist.
This album was especially exciting because this is Uchis’ first Spanish-dominated album, which fans have long awaited. One song, titled “Young Rich & In Love,” shares its lyrics between both languages. This song has the classic Kali Uchis touch that fans are familiar with, including an R&B feel with this alluring sound due to the prominent bass and enchanting background vocals. The top song according to Apple Music is “Igual Que Un Ángel” featuring Peso Pluma, which for me, is a good song but not the best song of the album. It has a solid rhythm and beat with quality writing, but feels like a radio hit song that wouldn’t necessarily be on repeat in my playlist. Although this is not an all-time favorite of mine, it’s still a good song that shows the strength of her album.
Uchis has no throw-away songs in the album, a very high-quality project that puts her above her peers in terms of the caliber at which she is constructing her art. The last song, “Dame Beso // Muévete,” is a salsa-based song that has an instrumental background that captures this, from the trumpets to the drums. I think this song was deliberately put last because it wraps up the album showing the fans what this album was about — expressing Uchis’ Latin roots and mixing it with her art.
This album raised the bar for Uchis’ fans as she expands her skills the more she releases, showing that she really cannot produce a bad song. To anyone who hasn’t listened to Kali Uchis, this is a perfect album to introduce her. It shows her strongest abilities as an artist, from her vocals to the small details (like transitioning between songs), that she does to create not just individual songs, but an album as a whole that tells a story about who she is as a person.
Image courtesy of Catalyst
