Moving on: Spanish balladeer Pablo López with an assist from fellow scenester Georgina (but Pablo’s the one nominated for the Grammy)…

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Alfred Soto: Aware that the “You Really Got a Hold on Me” shuffle can stand myriad adaptations, Lopez pledges his troth with a delicacy undergirded by force. When he forgoes words it matters more.
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Patrick St. Michel: It’s cruel to tease those horns on this otherwise sleepy ballad, because those brief moans tease a far more exciting song than this.
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Sabina Tang: Readers should give more credence to the blurb of anyone who is categorically a fan of piano ballads: I am not, and López’s album is nothing but. It’s not one of his more dynamic efforts, either, but Georgina’s timbre lends a few moments of interest.
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Iain Mew: The patient pedal steel and piano intro sets the scene and urges you to draw in closer for a good yarn. López doesn’t quite have enough to spin it out alone, but the addition of Georgina and a warm horn arrangement give enough extra character to make it worth sticking around.
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Brad Shoup: I don’t normally mention cover art, but on the special edition of Once Historias López looks like a well-stubbled caveman discovering fire. It sure as hell ain’t the wheel: smoky, straining vocals against a gently listing cafe-pop arrangement. The steel and brass in the refrain form one hell of an alloy, though.
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Anthony Easton: I was talking to a friend about a third friend’s art: how it was mostly so pretty and so decorative, and how those two qualities are underrated in art making. We should work on renovating that aesthetic. 
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