When we first met singer-songwriter Cuca in 2018, he was still a teenager and his career had just begun.
(SOUND RECORDING OF ARCHIVED NPR SHOW)
CUCO: I feel like I’m watching myself take off, but my brain is still on the ground. It all happened so fast. I didn’t even have time to become a diva.
MARTIN: Since then, his popularity has skyrocketed. And on Friday, he released his second album, “Fantasy Gateway.” It’s a mix of genres that Cuco is known for, from psychedelic rock and smooth R&B to traditional mariachi. Music journalist Nayeli Portillo says one of their favorite tracks is no exception. “Sitting In The Corner” features surprise performances from artists Adriel Favela and Kacey Musgraves.
(SOUNDBITE CUCO SONG, “SITTING IN THE CORNER”)
NAYELI PORTILLO: It’s thinking about a relationship that’s ended, basically, like you don’t want to accept that it’s over, and you’re constantly being reminded — like, you’re seeing all these constant reminders of the person you’re not with anymore. So it’s on the sad side. I’d say it’s a bit of a ballad, but it’s such a beautiful song.
(SOUND CLIP OF THE SONG, “SITTING IN THE CORNER”)
CUCO AND KACEY MUSGRAVES: (Singing) I can’t ignore and I can’t avoid that it was there. We had everything. The feeling was…
PORTILLO: About halfway through the song, there’s this really cool slowdown where it’s just the strings and Cuco’s voice at the same time. That’s all you hear. I love this moment.
(SOUND CLIP OF THE SONG, “SITTING IN THE CORNER”)
PORTILLO: One of his parents is from Mexico City. One of them is from Puebla. And he’s always talked about being raised on mariachi music and having, you know, those kinds of sounds that he brings to his music. There are a lot of songs that kind of go between Spanish and English, like in the same chorus, in the same verse. So he does a lot of things. It is very versatile.
(SOUND RECORDING OF THE SONG, “FIN DEL MUNDO”)
CUCO AND BRATTY: (Singing in Spanish).
PORTILLO: One of the things I love most about “Fin Del Mundo” is featuring this really cool artist named BRATTY. It’s about living in this dream world with someone, and then you have that moment where you’re like, wait a minute, this could all end at any moment, you know? This could end at any moment, and you don’t want it to. And the chorus has this line where it says, (speaks Spanish), which – a quick translation would be, now that I’m here with you, it’s harder to see reality without you. Like, having that moment of, like, you know, knowing that everything could turn around quickly and everything could turn out very differently.
(SOUND RECORDING OF THE SONG, “FIN DEL MUNDO”)
CUCO AND BRATTY: (Singing in Spanish).
PORTILLO: As listeners, we definitely hear a lot of things that he touched on in the earlier material. But I think he’s definitely doing a bit more research here. Cuco has always been quite experimental in his approach to, like, making music, writing songs that have these, you know, really catchy choruses that kind of just sit with you. But yeah, it’s still very much related to him making music in his bedroom on his guitar and, like, you know – like, really easily accessible software on his computer, you know?
MARTIN: That was music journalist Nayeli Portillo talking about Cuco’s new album, “Fantasy Gateway.”
(SOUNDBREAK OF SONG, “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”)
CUCO: (Singing) Eyes can be deceiving, but I don’t want mine to have you. My ears can be … Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
