From Latin Grammys to Radio Disney to us…
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[6.83]
Josh Langhoff: Lots of bachata hits try to fake you out. Think of Leslie Grace’s one-time labelmate Prince Royce and his smash “Darte Un Beso,” which opens with Jason Mraz ukelele; or just look up Grace’s own #1 debut, a remake of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” They start sounding as un-bachata as possible — like either something in vogue or agreeably retro — before slipping into the familiar guitar and percussion ripple. Once that bachata groove locks in there’s no getting out; it’s like falling into the middle of a house-sized feather pillow. Or so I thought until “Nadie Como Tú” opened with chipper guitar from the Train and/or Francesca Battistelli playbook. (This seems a good place to link Grace’s early album of Jesus songs.) On cue the bachata kicked in, but lo and behold the bachata did NOT take over, rather allowing the chipper guitar to coexist. They weren’t finished. Horns and strings, sounding more like Mark Anthony than Royce, appeared courtesy veteran producer Sergio George, who’s shaped the sound of post-Fania salsa as much as anyone. Somebody played Motown guitar licks. Grace experimented with blues phrasing. All these elements gave the song — slight, repetitive, too long at 3:25 — the unpredictable invention, even tension, it desperately needed. I’d listen again just to see how they crammed it all in.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Those strings provide a sturdy buttress for this homegirl’s (Western High School!) take on “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” And get a load of those bongos. Thin though.
[5]
Thomas Inskeep: “Nadie Como Tú” is one of my surprises of the year, a really gorgeous little single. Sweet, upbeat and breezy — I can hear Leslie Grace smiling as I listen. There’s just enough string-sweetening, the Hairspray-esque breakdown comes in at just the right time, the production is nice and light, and Grace’s voice is absolute sunshine. Her delivery gets the song across, even through the language barrier.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: Leslie Grace is the first bachata artist featured on Radio Disney. Despite both bachata and Radio Disney being press Bermuda Triangles, shouldn’t this be… more newsworthy than it’s been? If not for the sheer fact of it, for the delightfulness of the song, Grace Carly Rae Jepsenizing every note to blissful effect.
[7]
Rebecca A. Gowns: This song is an interesting experiment: Leslie Grace goes into the studio to record a bachata song, and the engineers start messing around with it after she leaves. They add a poppy guitar to the intro, and quickly switch to the bachata instrumental backing; they go up and down the soundboard and add in backup harmonies, a horn section, Casio string section chords, handclaps, a Santana-lite guitar solo; when they hit the bridge, they bring in disco guitar strumming combined with a ’60s pop drum flourish; all of these elements come and go as quickly as someone clicking through their keyboard settings. The effect is truly bizarre. The one stable thread that we can follow is Leslie’s voice — which, while a little thin, is peppy and full of life — and the catchy tune riding on it. Overall, it’s warm and friendly and totally deserves to be on Radio Disney, maybe even perfect for a 15 second commercial, but it’s a little scattered to become Leslie’s breakthrough hit. (Of all the sounds the song plays with, the stretched-out tinny string section bothers me the most.)
[6]
Brad Shoup: This thing’s crammed with sideshows, but not to the point that the emotional throughline (that organ sustain giving way to keening strings) is lost. The song threatens to spin off into one of a dozen places — it finally settles for an insane series of stylistic costume changes — but Grace holds it all together. Barely.
[9]