Me Dejé Llevar

Ever since singer Christian Nodal appeared on 2016's Los Plebes del Rancho's smash hit "No Pasa de Moda" and earned himself a record deal, his videos have racked up hundreds of millions of views and his pre-singles have ridden the higher rungs of the charts for over half of 2017. In his own music, he has striven to meld norteño and mariachi, developing a highly individual romantica style. His debut album, Me Dejé Llevar, leans completely in mariachi's direction, however, and is all the better for it. While "Adios Amor" and his David Bisbal duet single "Probablemente" are both here, it's the rest of the set that provides most of the revelations. Nodal wrote seven of these 13 songs, but given his performances, he may as well have penned them all. The mariachi orchestrations are lush and elegant, his sense of romantic desperation and hunger is abundant -- check "Eres" and the title track. In these songs and others, Nodal evokes traces of the great romantic singers like Vincente Fernandez, and Luis Miguel. Nodal does allow his lusty and exultant side to emerge on tracks such as the uptempo "Yo No Sé Mañana." The album also adds a solo version of "Probablemente" and a duet with Benito Camacho on a killer cover of Marc Antonio Solis' passionate "La Venia Bendita." As an album, Me Dejé Llevar fulfills and exceeds the promise of its pre-release singles, making it the mariachi album to beat in 2017. ~ Thom Jurek