Featured: Los Románticos de Zacatecas feat. Uriel Orozco – “Te Vas”
Madame, México
by Enrique Coyotzi
We’ve been enchanted with Los Románticos de Zacatecas at Club Fonograma ever since the beginnings of their career. Following two spectacular releases (2008’s Los Románticos de Zacatecas EP and 2010’s first full-length Muchacha) that rapidly gained them considerable radio airplay, presentations at important music festivals, and a faithful fan base, the band returns this year with their sophomore album titled Vacaciones, which will be appropriately released during this summer. The first cut we’ve heard from this upcoming new material is the bittersweet upbeat single “Te Vas," a song that probably will increase the comparisons with NYC cool kids Vampire Weekend. This tune hints Los Románticos might noticeably expand their palette of ideas on this new record, utilizing more instruments without dropping their accessibly recognized trademark sound (kinda similar to what Vampire Weekend did with 2010’s acclaimed Contra).
“Te Vas” is one of those tracks that are so immediately captivating, yet so short, that you can’t help but repeat it over and over. The inclusion of harpsichord and piano, executed by talented Guanajuatense newcomer Uriel Orozco, add new resplendent colors to the already shiny music of the ensemble, just like that synthetic strings arrangement that shows up in the middle of the song which acquires a melodramatic tone when it’s about to conclude. It’s a pleasant, digestible tune to the ear that, with sufficient radio play, may become one of the biggest hits they’ve produced. In fact, its simplicity is in part what makes it so likeable.
The band has never been immersed in complicated subjects within their lyrics; “Te Vas” is no exception and the universality of its theme makes it very appealing. If you’re surprisingly not interested in the music then you’ll certainly identify with the words. This time around, lead singer Manzanas appears to be trapped in a stormy relationship with an indecisive girl who abandons him regularly (“te vas, regresas/regresas, regresas y te vas”). But in the end, ups and downs don’t matter because his infatuation is greater than anything (“no me canso de esperar, mi amor/no me pidas que te olvide, corazón”).