Only a few days after the hallmark holiday dedicated to love and desire, Mexican singer-songwriter Christian Nodal finds himself drowning the sorrows of a broken heart at the rumbea. The pioneer of mariacheño — a genre that fuses the European influenced polka-based norteño with the emotive entourage of mariachi, two staples of Mexican regional music — celebrates lust-inspired actions of those suffering from a loss of love throughout his arousing latest release, "Un Cumbión Dolido." Nodal replicates the scattered and confused sentiments of heartbreak with a smooth blend of cumbia ranchera — made menacing by persistent, sultry horns — and norteño. " 'Porque así es, mijo, así va' / Lo decía mi nana, el amor puede matar / Por eso solo busco una diablita pa' bailar," Nodal sings in a low growl (" 'Because that's how it is my boy, that's how it goes' / My granny said it, love can kill / Here's why I'm only looking for a little devil to dance with") over evocative percussion as he uses the excitement of motion between bodies to distract from his heart's wounds.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
