2

The simply titled 2 is the second solo album by the famous singer from La Oreja de Van Gogh, after her inevitably successful 2008 debut. Once again, Montero wrote all the music and texts, but this time around she wanted a bigger international sound and production -- promptly achieved by recording in Los Angeles with producers Paco Salazar (Nena Daconte, Juanes, Luz Casal) and multiple Grammy winner Sebastián Krys (Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin), as well as studio pros such as Luis Conte (Madonna, Santana, Sergio Mendes), Lee Levin (Shakira, Calle 13), Paul Bushnell (Elton John, Phil Collins, Shakira), and Jellyfish's Roger J. Manning. The album is exactly what it sets out to be: a pleasing and eminently well-accomplished representative of big-budget contemporary Latin pop, one in which the eclectic arrangements distract from a certain feeling of déjà vu. ~ Mariano Prunes