At its core, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran is a pop album for a mainstream viewers, a colourful concoction of EDM-infused dance tracks, generic disco beats, and the occasional rap that’s virtually designed to be edited into shiny TikToks. Beneath its plasticky umbrella, Shakira additionally flexes her chameleonic powers, fusing Afrobeats with Dominican bachata, ska with northern cumbia, and electropop with reggaetón. Angsty alt-rock songs like “Tiempo Sin Verte” and “Cómo Dónde y Cuándo” harken again to her Alanis Morissette-esque 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? The latter track has a scrappy, start-stop guitar riff paying homage to “The place Is My Thoughts?,” recalling her affinity for Aerosmith and the Treatment. But when the starvation to say her dominance throughout genres—to show that nobody can change Shakira—feels real, the manufacturing decisions appear extra taken with proving her vary than in finding every track’s most genuine expression.
Alongside the way in which, Shakira assembles a star-studded lineup that features Manuel Turizo, Ozuna, and two Rauw Alejandro options. Her duet with Karol G (who’s skilled a public breakup of her personal) delivers a tantalizing sorry-not-sorry vibe paying homage to “Stunning Liar.” As regional Mexican music continues to command the worldwide pop scene, Shakira’s contralto tones, raspy cadence, and penchant for romantic storytelling discover a match within the bajo quinto and accordion-powered canción “(Entre Paréntesis),” with Groupo Frontera, and the tololoche-tinged sierreño urbano track “El Jefe,” with Fuerza Regida. Some options, although, really feel misplaced. Did we actually want a Tiësto remix of “Pa’ tipos como tú”? Cardi B’s punny “Puntería” verse looks as if it might have been substituted with virtually something. Describing the origins of their collaboration, Shakira mentioned, “I assumed, ‘How cool would it not be to have a lady rapper right here?’ The one one who got here to my thoughts was Cardi B. I had simply met her in Paris and she or he appeared so good.” That is additionally what involves thoughts once I consider “Puntería”—good.
Act one closes with “Última,” maybe probably the most susceptible second on the album. It’s a piano ballad that appears like Shakira’s closing try at closure: the primary time she thanks Piqué for the time they shared, whereas additionally acknowledging their incompatibility as she sings, “Más fácil period mezclar el agua y el aceite”—simpler to combine oil and water. The album’s second half undergoes a change akin to a post-breakup makeover, but it may possibly’t assist however revisit the anger stage. Armed with traces like, “Dicen por ahí que no hay mal que más de cien años dura pero ahí sigue mi ex-suegro que no pisa sepultura” (“They are saying that there isn’t a evil that lasts greater than 100 years, however my ex father-in-law continues to be round and doesn’t have a foot within the grave”), she holds nothing again.
There’s a fan for each period of Shakira—some who count on her to stick to Anglophone pop molds, some who pine for her rockera previous. Since her debut, she has impressed debate about Latine stereotypes and the character of cultural authenticity, however on this decade, her mix of kinds is not perceived to be so overseas because it as soon as was. It’s fascinating to observe Shakira take massive swings and prolong her dominance, however there’s a bit of piece that’s lacking: some small token to point out what made her such an icon within the first place.
