Only 10 months after 2023’s Red Moon in Venus, which featured a decent amount of hits in a cohesive presentation, American R&B singer Kali Uchis reappears stronger than ever with Orquídeas, following the same formula as her first two albums. Repetition can bore the over-stimulated masses of the pop-listening world, but Uchis’ alternation of English and Spanish-themed music continues to develop her now-established career. Mining another vein of Latin-inspired styles to craft 2024’s Orquídeas, Uchis sounds better than ever, appeasing impatient listeners with memorable tracks while delivering an interlocking set of songs that equals anything she has made so far.
Kali Uchis Returns After Less Than a Year in Command of Her Craft
Like so many stories of artistic success, Uchis has a great one that begins with disbelief. Hot on the heels of her hit debut full-length album, the singer’s Colombian heritage inspired her to quickly follow up with a Spanish-language collection for her second record. Despite the growing popularity of reggaeton and Latin pop in the U.S., her label did not believe that this would pay off, so they released Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) in late 2020 without hardly any marketing. Naturally, Uchis’ broad appeal across pop genres made the record a success, so the next time her experimenting brought her away from English, she could have complete creative control.
‘Orquídeas’ Has Some of Uchis’ Best Music Yet
Where Sin Miedo clashed with Uchis’ debut Isolation by removing the individuality that elevated her breakout, Orquídeas grows to top its English-language predecessor through greater emphases on blending the songwriter’s uniqueness with a new Spanish-influenced sonic landscape. Simply calling these tracks reggaeton massively undercuts the artistic vitality of this album; Uchis is finally proving that she is an artist of her design, not just the latest conduit for commercial attention in the music industry.
Uchis’ fourth collection sits closer to Rosalía’s masterful last release, Motomami, following a singular drive beyond just stealing from popular genres. Only listening to the Rauw Alejandro feature on “No Hay Ley Parte 2” might convince some that this is a cash grab for Spanish music lovers, but do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing first. Orquídeas shows better than Red Moon in Venus how essential Uchis is in the 2020s, turning in some of her most significant work even for those who overall prefer her debut.
The flow of the first three tracks should get most full-album listeners hooked. After the first two songs bleed into one another with a thrillingly subtle hypnotic ebb and flow, the electronic beats give way to beautiful pop perfection in “Igual Que Un Ángel,” which invests the listener for over four gorgeous, soaring minutes in a duet with Peso Pluma. Uchis frequently surrounds these single-worthy moments with inventive fusions and intense, varied production, presenting exhilarating pairs of modern flair and traditional dance styles like bolero and salsa through side-by-side placements of songs such as “Diosa” and “Te Mata” and the final two tracks.
Kali Uchis Deserves Her Genre-Straddling Status
Guest singers and exciting producer names like Carter Lang, Sounwave, and P2J grace the credits of Orquídeas, but Kali Uchis’ voice and songwriting unite the product as a whole vision. Under another influence, the same content might not have melded, weighed down by ambition and too many outside voices. Contrary to her first pair of releases, Uchis used Red Moon in Venus and Orquídeas to satisfy her developing creative inclinations, coaxing her most invigorating tendencies out of hiding and producing one of the best records of early 2024.
Orquídeas is streaming now wherever you listen to music.
