Ámame, Bésame

Recording information: Audiovision, Bogota, Colombia; Balta Studios, Miami, FL; CP1 Studios, San Antonio, TX; Performance Aguila Recording Studios, Orland Hills, IL; The Bassment, Monterrey, NL; Treehouse Studios, Miami, FL.
It's fun to speculate on what direction Diana Reyes' career would have taken had she continued to make norteño her primary focus and not reinvented herself as a duranguense artist in 2004. Perhaps she would have eventually become a major star in norteño had she stuck with it, but here's what can be said for certain: while Reyes had a following before the switch, she gained a much larger following after the switch. And the freshness that she brought to duranguense on 2005's La Reina del Pasito Duranguense and 2008's Insatisfecha doesn't let up a bit on 2010's Amame, Bésame (Love Me, Kiss Me), which finds her continuing to sound inspired and passionately enthusiastic. Amame, Bésame, it turns out, doesn't have as high a ranchera factor as Insatisfecha; most of this album's strength lies in Reyes' ability to combine duranguense infectiousness with Latin pop infectiousness. And infectious is definitely the word that describes hooky, exuberant tracks such as "Que Lástima" (What a Shame), "Yo No Te Pido la Luna" (I'm Not Asking You for the Moon), "Tu Ultima Llamada" (Your Last Call), and "Todavía Duele" (It Still Hurts). Occasionally, Amame, Bésame steps outside of duranguense. "Baila Esta Cumbia"/"La Carcacha" falls into the tecnocumbia category, as does the first of two versions of the title song (surprisingly, the duranguense version comes at the end -- not the beginning). Maybe the fact that Reyes opens this 39-minute CD with the non-duranguense version of the title song is her way of saying that she doesn't want to become predictable or formulaic. Nonetheless, duranguense dominates Amame, Bésame, which is yet another creative success for La Reina del Pasito Duranguense. ~ Alex Henderson