After a delicate intro with hummed backing vocals and slightly menacing synth parts, the bounce of the ‘upstrum’ on the offbeat signals a toe-tapping treat in the vein of the all-conquering Despacito – all guitars, crunchy percussive rhythms and softly-sung vocals.
If my translation software isn’t leading me astray, Miénteme is Spanish for ‘lie to me’. Our two protagonists seem happy to be lied to, and both are singing beautifully. Their vocals have long, lyrical phrases, and there’s a chance to showcase some great control of falsetto that touches delicately and accurately on the breathy high notes.
Drenched in reverb and acting as a counterpoint and foil to each other, the vocal phrasing pours audio honey over the perky, jerky rhythms that see the song through to its fade. The two voices have very different characters and occupy different sonic spaces, which helps to keep things fresh and interesting.
Some lovely florid Spanish guitar lines are wrought out of their instruments in the few spaces they are allowed, adding authenticity to proceedings.
In a breakdown section towards the end of Miénteme, the ubiquitous finger snaps and retro-sounding synth parts take over so that we can focus on vocals.
Never anything other than highly-polished and beautifully sung and played, Miénteme is accomplished – and genuinely makes you want to get up and dance. Seductive rhythms and lyrical vocal phrasing come together here to offer something that could genuinely crossover and become notably big.
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