The multinational Sony supports Shakira’s new long-form album release, and the first adjective it uses to announce it is “incredible.” And without a doubt it is, and to which we should add that it is very timely: we do not remember many cases of the commercial and musical returns of an artist thanks to the visibility of her anxieties and vital-sentimental reflections. From this sense, Women No Longer Cry is one more step in this very skillful operation where the universalization of private life, female empowerment, music and, of course, financial returns go hand in hand.
Although officially Las mujeres… is her first studio album in seven years, the reality is that it is very compendium since of the 16 songs included, half of them have already been published and of course devoured, such as her collaborations with Bizarrap, Karol G, Ozuna, Rauw Alejandro, Manuel Turizo or with their children Milan and Sasha (Acrostic). By the way, the optimal result of the collaborative formula has been put into practice again today with the single Puntería together with Cardi B, and which is precisely the cut that opens the brand new album, and which does not clash with the thematic atmosphere of the matter: on the back of a rather slow pop, Shakira repeating for the umpteenth time that “here I am” (for example: “your biceps make me crazy/I never direct you, you always arrive steadily/up to my G-spot, haha”) and the American rapping in English and Spanish.
The Colombian diva’s songs have practically been a more or less intermittent constant since her breakup, made official in 2022, with Gerard Piqué. That’s why the content of her songs, and in this case her new album, doesn’t come as a surprise, and there’s no need for it since why would they change a sound proposal that works wonderfully? That combination of pop, reggaeton, rap and ballads between caramel and spicy is an infallible formula when it comes to shaking bodies and humming melodies. Without a doubt, one of the virtues of the Latin artist is having created an unmistakable rhythmic sound style, and for a couple of years with the addition of lyrics that arouse curiosity and planetary morbidity, in addition to a positioning as a woman. and a person who overcomes (in his words) pain, anger, vulnerability and frustration.
In short, a work that does not raise surprises or news, and that confirms that Shakira moves very comfortably in works in complicity, as demonstrated in the unreleased songs La Fuerte, with Bizarrap, Cohete, with Rauw Alejandro, (In parentheses), with Grupo Frontera, as well as the one already mentioned with Cardi B. And she alone in front of the microphone only offers herself in four songs titled Time without seeing you, How where and when, Nassau and Última. Precisely in the latter, he returns to the Piquenian theme, with voice and piano, a question that is always infallible in terms of material benefits: “(…) Time passes and I cannot get you out of my mind/Surely in time I will regret it/And one day I will want to.” knock on your door again/But now/I must learn to be alone.” Surely exciting, but really, who cares about this or that person’s private life?
Nothing new under the sun, and for that matter, we prefer Shakira when she teams up with colleagues in the field, and shows more varied things. Even if she does something alone or in partnership, she is sure that it will not change her status of being the most listened to Latin artist of all time on Spotify. And with Women No Longer Cry, everything suggests that she is going to be even more so.
