HOT HALF DOZEN. 5.2.23

138 songs, albums, and videos submitted this week

Sin Fronteras, single/video by ALBA Musik. Electric, urgency, joyful, and rocking – the flamenco fusion of New Yorker Barbara Martínez and Spaniard Albert Alabedra, blending it with salsa, pop, funk, and Latin Pop. This song is from their soon-to-be-released new album Dawn. Stream on Spotify. Video on YouTube. Spanish.

El Niñno en la Frontera, single by Cecilia Noël. Northern Mexican music, but not quite, by this Peruvian-American singer and composer known for rockin’ salsa and over-the-top party music. It has a message about the migrant children at the Mexican border. She is joined by luminaries of regional Mexican music “El Guero” on accordion, Ulises Miranda on tuba, Léon Nava on trombone, Jamie Peréz on chachetas, and Jake Carmona on synth and bass. Stream on all major platforms. Spanish, but the moving video has English subtitles.

Refugio, single by Evaluna Montaner. Her piercing lyrics are delivered with a voice that comes from an angel. An urgent cry that will leave you breathless, and then wanting more, Listen carefully, slowly, with tears in your eyes.  Stream on Spotify. Video on YouTube. Spanish.

 La Falta Que Me Haces  by Natti Natahsa. From the first guitar notes that slide into her soft conversational lyrics that rise in power and emotion, she carries you along;  you are captured.  Stream on Spotify. Spanish.

Posi Vibes, video by Collen Green from Cool album. Pop guitarist Colleen Green has given us a great song that keeps us moving and happy, plus a fun stop-motion animation of her playing the song. The music is technically sophisticated and musically perfect soft, pop rock with her mysterious voice off in the distance…sort of haunting and fun at the same time. Stream on all major platforms. Animation on YouTube.

I’ll Give You All Night to Stop, single by Nick Lowe. Just plain ole’ fun country rock (with a little twist). A single on the 25th-anniversary deluxe reissue of Nick Lowe’s Dig My Mood. Check out the whole album – 17 classic fun country songs from the ’90s. Stream on Spotify and YouTube.