From regional Mexican evolution to hip-hop healing, here’s what’s actually worth listening to this week
Latin music is in a fascinating creative moment where established icons are collaborating with rising stars, and everyone’s processing something real. This week’s best new Latin releases tell that story perfectly. Junior H returns after three years with an album about heartbreak. CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso channel their crash-and-burn moment into a collaboration with Sting. Julieta Venegas reunites with Natalia Lafourcade after 17 years. These aren’t random releases. These are artists at specific moments in their careers making music that reflects exactly where they are emotionally and creatively.
- From regional Mexican evolution to hip-hop healing, here’s what’s actually worth listening to this week
- Junior H’s ‘DEPRESSED MFKZ’ is the emotional centerpiece of this week’s releases
- Julieta Venegas and Natalia Lafourcade’s “Tengo Que Contarte” is a 17-year reunion that feels overdue.
- CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso’s “Hasta Jesús Tuvo un Mal Día” with Sting is the most unexpected collaboration of the week.
- Carlos Rivera and Alejandro Fernández’s “Sin Despedida” is a stunning vocal showcase.
Junior H’s ‘DEPRESSED MFKZ’ is the emotional centerpiece of this week’s releases
His first album in three years opens with a trilogy of songs “No Tengas Miedo,” “En Donde Estás,” and “Errores” (where every “s” is swapped with a “$”) forming a mosaic of love, loss, and lingering heartbreak. The album balances despair with self-awareness, functioning less as a requiem for ruined relationships and more as meditation on emotional scars and how they shape us without fully defining us. Across 15 tracks, Junior H maintains his signature brooding simplicity born from the $ad Boyz movement, but what makes this project stand out is the collaboration with Gael Valenzuela. Their partnership feels effortless, like each track was exhaled into dimly lit rooms with nothing but steely guitar, notebooks, and heavy thoughts. This isn’t just heartbreak music. This is heartbreak wisdom.
Julieta Venegas and Natalia Lafourcade’s “Tengo Que Contarte” is a 17-year reunion that feels overdue.
Two iconic Mexican music voices come back together to celebrate friendship and sisterhood through regional Mexican music reimagined with contemporary emotional depth. The song co-written by Venegas and producer El David Aguilar blends nostalgia, confession, and female connection over guitars and wind instruments that reflect Mexico’s rich musical heritage. The accompanying video captures them in the studio, and you can feel the history between them. This isn’t two artists checking off a collaboration box. This is friendship documented in real time.
CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso’s “Hasta Jesús Tuvo un Mal Día” with Sting is the most unexpected collaboration of the week.
The Argentine duo, fresh off burning one of their Latin Grammys in their last music video, are now on a healing journey with an English rock icon. The song a jazzy punk rock track about breaking free, paying debts, and becoming better people marks their first single from their upcoming ‘FREE SPIRITS’ album. That album will address the 12-step problems that brought them to their breaking point. This collaboration with Sting feels like a master class moment, a legend helping younger artists process success-gone-wrong. “Even Jesus had bad days,” they chant. Context matters here.
Carlos Rivera and Alejandro Fernández’s “Sin Despedida” is a stunning vocal showcase.
Two incredible voices unite over pop infused with mariachi trumpets, violins, and norteño accordion. The song filmed at a hacienda in Guadalajara explores the pain of abandonment. It’s also becoming the theme song for the Televisa/Univision telenovela ‘Mi Rival,’ which gives it a cinematic quality beyond just music.
Lila Downs and Snow Tha Product’s “Cambias mi Mundo” combines female empowerment with cumbia energy. Downs drawing on strength of young women improving their communities created this powerful track with the Californian rapper. It’s Downs’ first new song since 2023 and marks her return from creative hibernation. The single artwork is hand-printed using a tortilla press by artist Alex José, inspired by the World tarot card. That level of intentionality elevates everything.
Carolina Ross joins Kalimba on “No puedo olvidarte,” marking her debut in regional Mexican music. The former OV7 member explores mariachi for the first time, singing about the frustration of not forgetting someone who still hurts. It’s the beginning of her mariachi album journey, and she’s nominated for a Premio Lo Nuestro for female artist of the year in Mexican music.
This week’s Latin releases prove that regional Mexican music isn’t about preserving tradition. It’s about evolving it while staying rooted in what makes it emotionally resonant.
