By Jonah Cashel, Copy Editor

[Geffen; 2024]

Rating: 8/10

Key Tracks: “Me Pongo Loca”, “Te Mata”, “Muñekita”

Kali Uchis’ new album ORQUÍDEAS lives up excellently to its name: elegant, colorful, dramatic, classic, and feminine, just like the flower. Each track both soothes and excites, a fiery romance for the senses. The sound of this record is captured well in the cover art, which features Uchis laying exposed in a bed of bright flowers, shades of pink fluid, and dazzling silver. The songs are vulnerable but empowering, all set over a fantastically lush backdrop that makes the listener feel like floating through a garden of the artist’s own design. The music itself ranges from classical Latin dance music to pop-infused jungle beats effortlessly fused together. Uchis’ recent return to Spanish-language lyrics adds to this fluidity and enhances the dramatic flow of each song. 

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A lot of Uchis’ music is deeply romantic, but many of these songs, while maintaining that energy, focus more on self-empowerment rather than relationships. “Me Pongo Loca” is one of these songs where the romance is focused on the self, with lyrics like, “Too real so I don’t do frenemies / Too real so they can’t get rid of me,” that express a confidence in the self. 

With the title translating to “I get crazy” the lyrics are also fiercely self aware, but not self deprecating. This is strongly reinforced by the thumping drums that ride throughout and the glimmering touches of keys. This song transitions beautifully into “Igual Que Un Ángel (with Peso Pluma)”, which describes a woman who appears angelic despite the superficial trials of heartbreak. The standout line, “Un corazón como el tuyo está en extinción”, which means “A heart like yours is endangered,” carries this theme of perfection and purity despite outside forces. The backing tracks on these two songs remind me of Childish Gambino’s Kauai, which is equally lush and dramatic.

Speaking of dramatic, “Te Mata” is absolutely overflowing with the classical Colombian influence that undercuts the entire record. Uchis’ voice powers through the slow guitar and emotion-packed strings that signify the genre, with an angelic choir behind her that smooths out the whole thing. 

This track will transport you to a tragic black and white love story set in a lush hacienda. The lyrics tell the story of a bold escape from a tragic relationship, told so poetically it is almost overwhelming. The line, “Yo, que soy la diabla de tu historia / La que sabía que pa’ volar me tocaría encontrar mis propias alas”, which translates to “Me, the devil in your story / The one who knew that to fly I would have to find my own wings”, cuts so deep it is impossible not to feel the singer’s anguish. But even without translating the lyrics, the powerful emotion of this song is deeply effective. It is placed perfectly in the tracklist to provide an intermission from the lively Reggaeton feel of the rest of the album.

However, the entire album is not all tears and drama. Tracks like “Muñekita (with El Alfa & JT)” are irresistibly fun songs that could draw a shake of the hip out of the coldest curmudgeon. It is a testament of Uchis’ ability to call on the full range of emotions in her music, a skill that has been clear since 2018’s Isolation. Although, where that album was able to synthesize these emotions equally into each track, ORQUÍDEAS concentrates a new feeling into each track as an individual statement. This album is truly a work of art, and we would expect nothing less from Uchis. Its dedication to every facet of el corazón comes just in time for the Valentine’s Day season. Find someone you love and play this for them, or dance alone to it in your room. It is perfectly suited for both.

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