Prezident Markon’s New Singles Round-Up: (MOMO., Terror/Cactus, Arturo Sandoval, Curió Curió, Diego Mena, Orquestra Tropical Pacifico and many more)

As things hot up in more ways than one, we can comfort ourselves in the knowledge that certain things never change: there will always be more new singles from the Latin world to enjoy. Hopefully. Here’s a healthy broad-based selection from recent weeks.

MOMO.: “Egum Eô”

It’s good news week: MOMO.’s back in town. The London-based Brazilian singer-songwriter’s new single is taken from June’s Tum Tum Tum, the second album that he has made since moving with his family to London. Produced by the artist himself, it has a nice hook, a catchy melody and the kind of easy-swinging funky sound that is getting to be a trademark. Now on Agogo Records, the forthcoming album includes a collaboration on one track with the mighty Marcos Valle.

Lau Ro: “Conclusão”

Another expatriate Brazilian singer-songwriter based in England – and just a 50-minute train ride south from London to Brighton, or London-by-the-sea – is Lau Ro. The artist’s sophomore album also appears in June and this delicate, meandering song about the ache of unresolved relationships offers a promising foretaste of things to come. It follows 2024’s Cabana for the estimable Far Out Recordings.

Terror/Cactus: “Transmisión Clandestina”

Would you credit it? Another South American expatriate artist with a sophomore album due in June. In this case, though, the man in question, producer and multi-instrumentalist Martín Selasco, was born in Argentina. Part of a family that founded not just one but two record labels, he was raised in Miami, surrounded unsurprisingly by music. Now based in the Seattle area, his work draws from a range of Latin American musical traditions and moves fluidly between cultural landscapes. The album, Calapso, comes out on June 12th and, on the basis of this intriguing single, could be one to look out for.

Arturo Sandoval: “Scat”

Here’s someone we haven’t heard from for quite some time. Well, I guess the flamboyant Cuban trumpeter is a senior citizen these days at 76. This funky single is taken from an album out very soon (no, not June, May), SANGÚ. It sounds like Sandoval can still hit those improbably high notes, while the scat-singing appears to be a new string to his bow. Sandoval was mentored of course by the great Dizzy Gillespie and I hope you’ll have checked out Adailton Moura’s fascinating article on Sounds and Colours about a little known album that Dizzy made in Brazil with Trio Mocotó.

Rizomagic: “Orbital”

Time now for a dose of “Psychotropicolombian Futurism”, which is what this Colombian duo of Diego Manrique and Edgar Marún dub their electronic take on cumbia rebajada, the slowed-down and manipulated form of the genre pioneered by Mexican and Colombian sound-system DJs back in the day. “Orbital” is one half of an EP along with “Cumbia Lunar”. It’s very redolent of the contemporary Bogotá scene and it’s enough to get you spinning slowly around the room in a state of hypnotic bliss.

Curió Curió: “Bem Querer”

Another duo for our delectation. This single comes courtesy of the ever-trustworthy Mr. Bongo label from an act named after a Brazilian songbird and specialising, it would seem, in the kind of infectious fusion of MPB, disco, samba and more that Bala Desejo and others are serving up. Born in Rio de Janeiro, appropriately enough, Luiza Monteiro is a singer and actress now based in Austria, while musician and producer Dustin Braun hails from Germany. An album is scheduled for July, but for now we’ve got this lovely sultry, funky groove to be going on with.

Climax: “Nacido Para Ser Salvaje”

Right, you rockers! Time to rev up your Harleys and hit the road. Here’s Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild” Bolivian style from the debut EP of a hard-rock outfit that would later find some kind of fame in a more “progressive” niche. Originally released in 1969, the first-time vinyl reissue comes courtesy of Vampisoul. Climax take on Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses”, as well as Hendrix’s “Fire”, on the other three tracks and they do it with a certain rough-and-ready panache.

La Gata: “KUiDAO FT. JAZZ”

When is an EP not an LP? 3:33, named after the singer’s time of birth, is a six-track pack, but the individual components are short enough to justify its inclusion here. Katelina Eccleston, known perhaps understandably as La Gata, is a US-based Dominican artist, as well as an historian of reggaeton and a social commentator. According to an in-depth profile in Rolling Stone, in her social media platform Reggaeton con La Gata, she’s “investigated, educated, and challenged the narratives surrounding reggaeton” – and probably not before time. Her music fuses punk and rock to the genre to create something like this…

Muca & Roberto Menescal: “Every Little Thing ft. SAHRA”

After all those wailing electric guitars, it’s a bit of a relief to go acoustic for a few moments. Taken from an album scheduled for the end of May, BELEZA, comes this breezy single in which the London-based jazz singer, SAHRA, joins forces with the bossa nova tyro, Roberto Menescal, and the London-based musician Murillo Squillaro, known in the trade as Muca. “I spent some time in Brazil in the winter of 2024 and fell in love with bossa nova all over again,” the guest vocalist reveals. “So when Muca approached me to contribute vocals to this track with a legend such as Menescal, I jumped at the chance to give him his flowers and show appreciation to a true pioneer.” How perfectly delightful.

Grupo Firme: “Cabrón y Medio”

And now, because I’m sure you’re clamouring for it, here’s a little heart-rending, emotionally-charged Mexican music. Grupo Firme are currently on an extensive tour of Central and Latin America to coincide with the release of their first studio album in three years, Evolución. It has garnered trillions of streams on platforms everywhere and, in fact, the band can count on over 21.4 million monthly Spotify listeners. No wonder that the publicity describes Grupo Firme as “one of the most beloved Mexican acts today, continuously redefining the genre and bringing música Mexicana to a global audience.” You heard it here first. Or perhaps not, given their global reach.

Diego Mena: “Motivos pa Volver”

While we’re on a Mexican theme… Diego Mena is a Mexican singer-songwriter and producer based in Houston. He blends corridos with pop, urban and rock influences into a fresh, frothy and rather sweet sound. “Motivos Pa Volver” is the first single from his upcoming 10-track debut album. More than that, I cannot currently tell you. Watch this space…

Lucas Filmes: “Pai”

Back to Brazil – and don’t spare the horses! If “Pai” sounds like it slots neatly into the niche of nova bossa nova created by the likes of Sessa and Bruno Berle, this is actually a rather unusual single. Like the other side, “Quanto Amor”, it reflects specifically on the experience of loss – of the artist’s father in 2024. “Pai” was written during surgery to remove his father’s malignant tumour. “It was an extremely complex, high-risk procedure. This song works as a plea—for everything to be okay, for us to continue living and learning together,” Filmes explains. It is, as he suggests, a sad song, yet it’s not submerged in melancholy and is rather beautiful in a wistful kind of way.

Sparklmami: “No Te Vayas”

Perhaps something a little more uplifting is needed after that sad song. Sparklmami is described as a multi-disciplinary artist and she hails from Chicago, where so much great jazzy music derives from these days. I love her cool-and-lazy take on disco-fied Brazilian jazz-funk, and her self-directed video’s not too shabby either. It’s the opening track from her first album, In This Body, which is out on 5th June – on Verve Records, no less.

Hockitay: “buttons”

Here’s a curious song by a singer-songwriter with an unusual voice. Hockitay was born in Guatemala and is now based in Montreal, where this beguiling video was made. The line “The task of living is all consuming, don’t you find that I’ve consumed enough” highlights the theme of the song: what remains of our essential self in this increasingly automated world of ours? Remember the name; Hockitay might be onto something here.

Mexican Institute of Sound, Meridian Brothers: “Cumbia de los Estudiantes”

Here’s another deliciously bonkers single from the bonkers team of Mexican Institute of Sound and Meridian Brothers. The video is clearly also created in the same spirit of joyful lunacy. I still remember my school days and they’d have been considerably enhanced by music like this. It’s the second single from the album that comes out in May, Ruido Tovar. It’s bound to be a winner.

Celeste Sanazi: “Sabor a ti”

Here’s some really nice contemporary salsa from an Argentine artist based now in Mexico City. Known apparently for her acting roles in TV shows and films, Celeste Sanazi gained broader recognition for her role in the Nickelodeon hit series Kally’s Mashup. I can’t say I know it, but I do know that this is a heap-good single.

Orquestra Pacifico Tropical: “Entre La Montaña”

Drummer David “Papi” Fimbres of this tropical outfit based in Portland, Oregon, shares, “We want to show people what dance music is and that it is for everyone.” That seems like a very worthy aim and a rather appropriate place to end this current round-up. It’s the second single from an album out in June, El Poder. Another good one in prospect, it would seem. Well… I’m sure I’ve missed loads of similarly worthy new singles from the Latin world, but I’ve simply got to get into the garden: It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under…

(Cover photo of Terror/Cactus courtesy of Jake Hanson)

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