They put a spell on us…
[Video]
[6.29]
Alfred Soto: A track of taut, feverishly expressed eroticism, with the performers reveling in the title’s male stereotypes. For once a modern dance production avoids EDM drops and mixing board vocal manipulations.
[7]
Iris Xie: I’m gonna admit, I clicked on this song because I find witch/magical girl representation cute and I probably know some brujas, but “Mujer Bruja” definitely takes all of that and renders it down to a breezy bop that doesn’t think too hard about what it’s trying to convey. However, it does its job well — one of my most favorite pop production tropes is at 0:29, when the loud drums drop out, and there’s a space that helps push up the anticipatory buildup before it drops into the chorus. Curiously, the rest of the production doesn’t match up to that moment, with a tinny accordion synth and Lola Indigo’s vocals seem muddled and ends up muffling her energy. But oh man, when Mala Rodríguez comes in with her thin, casual and cold tone that sounds like she’s chewing on the sinews of the song and slowing the entire tempo down, that’s when the magic comes out, if only for a little bit. The production drops the mid-range and the whiny horns to give her the proper stage she deserves, and her anunciation with “abracadabra” is infectious. Now, while there is that “magical moment,” I feel the song itself uses the concept of “bruja” in a flattened one-note form that mimics depthless representation in popular media, of a sexy seductress that is compelling to men with her glorification of danger. In light of this, I’m just going to take the opportunity to drop some interesting feminist cultural studies research to provide some additional depth to the concept of “bruja.” Also, at 2:27, there’s another moment of potential sublime where they build up the bridge and they join together in a duet, but again, it drops down back into the less than satisfying hook, but wait! Rodríguez comes back and adds back her snarls, but it is far too short before it ends. It is not as much of an incessant earworm as Lola Indigo’s debut breakthrough “Ya No Quiero Ná,” which has much more breathing room and is more playful and daring, but “Mujer Bruja” is extremely devoted to being a pop song that is designed to hit the charts hard.
[7]
Ryo Miyauchi: The effectiveness of the enchantment cast in “Mujer Bruja” comes at the expense of another woman at times, but hip-hop swagger used to reduce men into mere accessories is a welcome trope as a response to hot heads who overcompensate over the same ego-feeding beat.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: Indigo and Rodríguez know how to serve it up, and how to ride this smarter-than-your-average reggaeton beat.
[6]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: Mala Rodríguez’s verse sounds like it’s supposed to be an interesting contrast to Lola Indigo’s more jubilant vocals, but it’s more awkward that anything. During it, you’re reminded of what makes “Mujer Bruja” worth your while: those serpentine synth filigrees.
[4]
Will Adams: With a melody lifted from Kevin Lyttle’s “Turn Me On,” an aggressive clatter of a beat and angular synth flourishes that wind their way through the whole song, there’s plenty to enjoy in “Mujer Bruja.” Enough that it almost doesn’t matter that it starts to peter out by the end.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: A banger that runs out of ways to bang around the two-minute mark.
[7]