Healer (Caracol Records, 2015)
Alex Cuba’s Healer is another of those albums that gets marketed as world music. Instead, it’s a pop album in Spanish (with occasional English-language collaborations). Even though Alex Cuba is a Cuban artist, the singer-songwriter’s arrangements lack any Cuban roots music. It’s essentially a well-produced mainstream pop album.
Even though Healer seems to be an indie release with support from the Canada Music Fund, the result is a recording that could have come out on a major Latin label. It’s full of pop hooks and romantic songs which is what rules commercial Spanish-speaking radio.
Alex Cub is joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, pop vocalist Alejandra Ribera, Vancouver colleague Kuba Oms, singer-songwriter David Myles, and pop artist Anya.
Alex Cuba is set to perform in New York on April 16-18, 2015, and this summer at the Hollywood Bow, opening for Sheryl Crow on August 7-8, 2015.
Healer will certainly appeal to Spanish-language pop music fans.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
