![]() ![]() ![]() Sometimes the references to drugs feel forced-and maybe even a bit self-sabotaging-as is the case on the admittedly groovy “Keeping Tabs,” which has Cuco ghosting his partner with the rapped refrain “Take another tab and now a set of shrooms / No don’t hit my line baby, girl who are you.” That track’s sludgy b-side is “Love Tripper,” which finds Cuco begging likely the same lover to stick around while he tries to piece himself back together. It doesn’t help that Cuco seems more interested in the libidinal effects of hallucinogens than he does winning back the girl he lost. “Far Away From Home” would be a great lovelorn piano ballad if a Joe Satriani-worshipping guitar solo didn’t appear halfway through. That track leads into “Feelings,” which starts to course correct from its interlude with a sensual bass line and seductive harmonies only to have over-processed horns and shimmeringly ugly synths kill the mood right after the chorus. The worst offender is “Perihelion (Interlude),” a two-and-a-half minute-long instrumental that sounds like Cuco passed out and landed face-down on his synth in the middle of an acid trip. The maximalist approach to production is often baffling. There are some lovely songs on Para Mi, though you might just have to slog through some unfortunate synths and occasionally cringe-inducing lyrics to get there. In his defense, Cuco seems to be going through some shit lyrics like “I been off it like a prophet, ain’t no tellin’ why / Can you blame me, baby, for the fact that I just lost my mind?” often reflect a drug dependency in the wake of recent heartbreak, but sometimes the acid-addled bars read more like hollow braggadocio. The album shows some growing pains for a talented artist that’s maybe a bit too stuck in horny adolescence, trapping great songs behind a regrettable tendency toward overproduction that turn Cuco’s formerly charming impulses into something much more grating. With painfully earnest lyrics like “Lost in the words that you say to me / Y pasando tiempo juntos is the ultimate dream” on 2017’s breakout single “Lo Que Siento,” combined with Demarco’s oddball sense of humor-his Spotify bio reads “PLS TELL PAPA JOHNS TO STOP SEASONING MY PIZZA WITH SULFURIC ACID”-Cuco swept fans off their feet with a disarming ease, leading to the 21 year-old artist’s staggeringly fast ascent to full-blown Gen Z heartthrob status.īut that take-it-or-leave-it charm isn’t exactly present on Cuco’s major-label debut Para Mi. Over the course of a handful of self-recorded EPs and singles, Cuco (born Omar Banos) earned a reputation for his sweet Spanglish love songs that eagerly melted Brazilian bossa nova with Atlanta’s trap scene, managing to stand out in a field of Mac Demarco lookalikes in the process.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |