The Singles Jukebox

Juana introduces us to a controversial instrument…

[Video][Website]
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Iain Mew: The whistle comes off either swaggering or annoying depending on the mood at any given moment, which is a problem when the song is so stripped back as to provide little else.
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Juana Giaimo: In their latest album, Amanecer, Bomba Estéreo aimed to join together their two extremes: dancing and an introspective viewpoint, previouslyThese were previously confined to separated songs. “Soy yo” is the culmination of this union. The flute is actually an indigenous instrument called gaita and the beat comes from a tambor alegre. Still, no one would call this a folkloric song since it is placed next to electronics, hip hop and in a context in which cumbia is considered the genre of clubs and young people. Li Saumet has never been recognized as a rapper, but “Soy Yo” features a playful cadence that fits perfectly with the beat and her words. While club songs’ lyrics tend to portray the tension between people, this is a very relaxing song which tells you “Don’t worry if they don’t approve you.” She is inviting you to have fun and to dance, either alone or with friends, in a goofy way or showing the bold movements of your body. It doesn’t matter because “Soy yo” celebrates individuality in its simplest form: you don’t need to do amazing stuff, just be you — even if that means that you like “being sat down without doing much.”
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Peter Ryan: In the context of Amanecer “Soy Yo” isn’t really a focal point — not that it’s bad by any standard, but it feels a little slight compared with some of the record’s bigger moments. It does chalk one more up in the frenetic floor-filler column though, ensuring that its ilk just outnumbers the chilled-out romantic meditations. It stands a bit more comfortably on its own; as a single, the beaty brashness works in its favor, lending itself impeccably to the now-iconic visual treatment it was always destined to get. The whole package — song and video together — amounts to a bulletproof preemptive counterargument to anyone who might sneer at the message.
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Will Adams: Amanecer‘s juxtaposition of club-ready electro with restful downtempo is no less thrilling when encountered in a single song. Though “Soy Yo” puts the spotlight on its dance break — a flute trilling over Rugrats vocal bass — the brief breakdowns make its only two and a half minutes still satisfying.
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Claire Biddles: This is super fun and there’s so much going on, especially with the percussion — I love the interplay between the handclaps and bass-y drum sounds. I’m not that put off by the more obviously controversy-provoking flute, but the cheesy synthesised cymbal sounds make me wince every time they appear.
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Edward Okulicz: Trying to break this down rationally, everything about this song should be annoying in isolation, but I actually like the flute-like instrument, the stops, the blurpy vocal bass, the video game jumping noises under the second verse when I just concentrate on them one at a time. It’s just all a little much all together when listened to more than once.
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Jonathan Bradley: “Soy Yo” has a big fat bass hit that saunters in on the one and provides a force enough to move even the most immovable posterior. All else can’t but help but orbit around such a center of gravity, but these elements play their part: Li Saumet’s nimble, playful rapping and an ingratiating flute line so naggingly catchy it might be transported from a song that, in another universe, it’s already a hit.
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