from king of the trap to king of the mambo

The first thing to say about The Madrilenian the thing is Anton Alvarez Alfaro (Madrid, 1990) has fulfilled the expectations placed on it. Like more or less, his fourteen songs – a collection consistent, though uneven– contain enough emotions, nuances, and paradoxes to liven up pop conversations for the remainder of the year. In these times of fierce struggle for attention, it is a indisputable merit to beat the listening record of a Spanish debut on Spotify, reaching 5.17 million in 48 hours, ahead of previous bestsellers such as Rosalía Y Aitana, already commented on Vozpópuli.

First impression: this is the smartest Spanish star since Alaska. Remember her in the capacity to overcome a discreet voice thanks to his ability to decipher the ‘zeitgeist’ and to ‘zap’ through different styles, as well as his nose to surround himself with the precise team of collaborators. More crucial things are attached to it, such as placing on an altar Salvador Dali Y Andy Warhol, winners of the pop market who considered the construction of their characters as something as important as their works. Furthermore, for ‘Pucho’ and Olvido, commercial success is almost indistinguishable from artistic success, as decreed by the first commandment of the Movida.

Tangana does not seek to invent anything, but to express its conflicts through the most current music

Alaska was the queen of ‘trendy’ DIY since punk from Kaka de Luxe to the club rhythms of Fangoria, changing their skin every season, as designers change their styles. In four decades of experience, he never invented anything, but he shone taking the pulse of trends and deciphering them for the general public. Today Tangana seems to have taken over where she can no longer, from the emergence of trap to the explosion of Latin popular music that began with reggaeton (a genre that meant the break of young Spanish people with the drowsiness and mediocrity of Anglo-Saxon hipster pop , bogged down in continuous recycling of its past).

Latin apotheosis

Here ‘Pucho’ bets stronger for the Hispanic than Rosalía, lately lost in inane collaborations with ‘Anglo’ artists such as Billie Eilish Y The Weeknd. Today it seems more likely to conquer the United States market using Spanish (as they did Luis Miguel, Marc Anthony Y Bad Bunny) that singing in English (the old way of Shakira Y Jennifer Lopez). In this album, Tangana manages to cover with ‘cool’ Jose Feliciano, The Hungarian Y Gipsy Kings, demonstrating pop criteria and courage to defend it, like when Fangoria covered in 2018 “Dame tu cariño” (Camela), confirming that the festive pop ‘fashion’ is not so different from the considered ‘choni’. Not everyone has that nose.

The Madrilenian, as we said at the beginning, it is a coherent and irregular collection. The best piece is “You stopped loving me”, which elegantly blends rumba and bachata, putting both styles at the service of a fiery story of love disappointment. We can already say that it is a classic of pop-rock in Spanish. The weakest, I do not have many doubts, is “Eat you whole”, lustful confession on a basis of the Brazilian Toquinho, which actually looks like a ‘chill out’ remix of the classic “How insensitive” by Antonio Carlos Jobim (In a similar whispered register, the harsh “You forgot” works much better, with Omar Apollo, a slump ballad with cocaine).

“Ungovernable” and “Cambia!” Stand out, even overcoming the need for a more resounding voice

The average level of the rest is enjoyable, although it often sounds like an exercise in style. Stellar collaborations with Kiko Venom, Calamaro Y Eliades Ochoa they parade solid and sparkling, but they are also too reminiscent of other songs that these artists did before and better. The surprise comes with “Change!”, With Carin Leon Y Adriel Favela, since it is not easy to sound so natural as soon as you land in Mexican music. Also noteworthy is “Ingobernable” with Gipsy Kings, despite the fact that the piece calls for a more resounding voice. The rest of the album does not detract, not even when some cut reminds minor composers like Palo syrup (“Nominao”) or the ‘retrokitsch’ approach of The Kid with the Freckle (“A poison”), more effective than memorable bestsellers.

Total seduction: from seven to seventy years

Tangana triumphs surrounded by an enviable cast of stars, to whom he adapts more than vice versa. At times, more than a record, it seems a party of fancy dress, but this is not a merit or a demerit, but a decision of the artist who has always been sincere about the importance in his proposal of fashion, marketing and theatricality. Tangana aspires in this album to handle the alchemy of the ‘crossover’, seducing the public from seven to seventy years old, and I would say that it comes out triumphant thanks to a mixture of smell, pop library and a lot of intuition for the ‘featurings’.

‘The madrileño’ convinces even if you know all the tricks, traps and tricks that unfolds right under your nose

The Madrid element, in my opinion, is the self-confidence of ‘Pucho’, which connects him with the great names of pop in the capital, from David Summers (Men G) to Jaime Urrutia going through your own Joaquin Sabina. They all share the cheeky point, the engoado voice and the ability to make personal brand their voices of the heap, a typical ordeal of the pop-rock singers of the capital. All managed to transform their limitations into warmth and complicity with the listener.

Even skeptics, who have never been really seduced by Tangana’s proposal, we have to admit that it has earned the place it holds as reference of national pop in 2021 (although some of us prefer artists type Omar Montes, El Jincho Y Cannell, which exceed it in street voltage). The Madrilenian convinces even if you know by heart all the tricks, traps and tricks that unfolds in front of your nose. It can be said that we are facing a triumph, a work achieved and a step forward. As in the case of Alaska, it seems that Pucho can continue at this until the day he decides.

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