The Singles Jukebox

We no longer think this Mexican duo (with Spanish guest) sounds like Snow Patrol…

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[5.75]

Megan Harrington: It’s a bit impossible to smolder with your sibling providing all the friction, so Alejandro Sanz is more than a marquee name, he’s a functional unit of “No Soy Una de Esas.” But it’s also hard to smolder with your sibling standing over your shoulder, so “No Soy Una de Esas” is never quite more than modest flirtation. Birds in springtime and any old hemline are enticing if they’re singing and swirling. That the deal is never done doesn’t quite spoil all the anticipation. 
[6]

Juana Giaimo: Jesse has a lovely voice that fits the light beat of the music, but why does Alejandro Sanz always sound like he’s suffering? 
[5]

Cassy Gress: I remember Sanz’s “Quisiera Ser” from 15 years ago, a song I liked at the time and am sort of bored with now. Even though he sounded vocally about the same then as he does here, the lyrical context here makes him sound so much like a creepy old man. And with a young-sounding woman saying “I should step back” and him talking about how if you didn’t want to flamenco you shouldn’t have clapped, is it SUPPOSED to sound this gross?
[3]

Brad Shoup: Sanz is wholly invested. In the phrasing, in his asides, in trying to wake Joy up. His rasp threatens to smog up the works in the best possible way. But his hosts contribute clipped guitar on the right side of a Nile impression, as well as some fine brass voicing.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: I won’t dance, don’t ask me, but the instruments can pivot and exult all they want.
[5]

Patrick St. Michel: Blame it on geography, but I’m so used to horns and slinky bass lately being used in Japan to recreate ’80s-era smoothness that when “No Soy Una de Esas” started up I expected something similarly worthy of chilling out to. But this has some real urgency built in via those vocals, rather than just atmosphere.
[7]

Jonathan Bogart: Maybe I’m just overreacting to the presence of syncopated rhythm on a Jesse & Joy track. It may be backwards from the usual stereotypes that a European is bringing life and vibrancy to a Latin American act, but Sanz’ flamenco-pop has always been more brisk and funky than the ponderous ballads that are the Huertas’ stock-in-trade.
[8]

Will Adams: There’s a good base here, what with the thick drum textures girding the brass section. But Alejandro Sanz’s engaging rasp needs a partner who’s not as plain and professional as Joy. Like, oh, I don’t know, Shakira?
[5]