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Released: 30th September 2002.

Lucrecia is the latest thing to come out of Cuba. If you like your music big, bright and Euro-tinged Latin this could very well be the album for you. Lucrecia's music is best described as flamboyant camp salsa.

As soon as the first track "Mi Gente" kicks in, then it sounds like you're in for a treat, it is an excellent start to the album, with some big drum beats. It's a definite holiday track.

"Que Llueva" is much more for the late night Latin party, the beat jumps up and the production is far more fit for the club than other tracks. Although not hugely original, it has some nice add-libs and rifts in it that add to the spice. It has a very sexy feel to it and you can literally imagine a hot couple shaking their thang together on the dancefloor!

The record then goes into a ballad, which disrupts that party flow of the album so far. "Nido De Amor" sounds scarily masculine, but it's nicely laid back, sounding not too different to "No Me Ames" by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. It's about two and a half minutes into the song before it shines, there's a very sweet little encore with a group of backing singers.

"Que Salga El Sol" comes next, with a trance beat and a not so strong chorus, but you can imagine hearing this kind of thing in the background in a romantic foreign restaurant.

Back into ballad territory again next with "Dudas" which is really quite annoying, as "tengo dudas" is repeated through a lot of the track, and not knowing what on earth it means is quite frustrating. If you're not brushed up on your foreign languages and are in for the lyrical content then you'll struggle with the album, as there's not an English word on the whole disk.

"Ampárame" begins with a very cheesy fake laugh, dropping into a big beat, eventually leading into nothing much actually... Lucrecia proves she can hold her notes in places on this track, but when the computer effects drop in, you start to wonder whether it's really her holding it. One for the skip button perhaps.

"Un Día Más Sin Ti" sounds very mellow to begin with, there's a flute in there with the usual collection of instruments. Also, there's some very nice vocals at the beginning, sounding like an African tribal group, and Lucrecia's now familiar voice fits the track very well. A quirky keyboard in the middle of the track gives a nice break to a rather repetitive track. "Dime Tú" brings Lucrecia almost down to a hault, it's the laziest track on the album so far, with a very small use of instrument and effortless vocals.

The title track sounds very praising, like something you can easily imagine in a gospel choir church in the USA, despite the production and foreign tongue. "Háblame De Amor" offers a much softer, smokier vocal tip, however fails to capture your attention until a hypnotic sax solo comes up.

Lucky us! There is a bonus track too, "Nana Jan" begins with the eerie sound of a baby crying, with the sound of a babies mobile running throughout it. Dedicated to Lucrecia's child, unless the subject is personal to you as well, you will find the track a little flat and strangely disturbing.

To sum up, if you can face 48 minutes of pure mature euro-style Latin pop, without a single word of English than go for it. If you prefer your music slightly deeper, with a strong production and in a language you're familiar with then I most definitely would not recommend this album to you.

On a personal note, this is my third listen to the album and after a bit of negativity at first, I'm starting to like it. It definitely has it's place (foreign restaurants, holidays), but I would suggest you do try and give it a listen, you may surprise yourself as I have.

Instantly catchy: "Mi Gente"
Instantly forgettable: "Dime Tú"
Worst track: "Dudas"

(SholasBoy)

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