Boy Pablo - Wachito Rico: Review
Within the last few years many indie artists began emerging and many have made an imprint on the industry with creative instrumentations and emotional vibravo that isn’t seen much with pop and rock superstars. Boy Pablo has emerged as one of many artists that bend genres to their unique sound. By using a lot string orchestration and bilingual vocal arrangements it shows what direction this takes. It makes the Chilean - Norwegian band have a distinguishing sound that lays out blueprints for their future, especially on their debut album Wachito Rico.
Front man Nicolas Muñoz has shown for the longest that he has a cadence to his ability to write poetic stories about the love and life of the main character Wachito Rico. The strings that are brought to the forefront adds a mist uniquely masking the eloquent underbelly that is the percussion and jazz influences.
From early in their career, the strings were always a focused ambivalent force in their music. 2017s “Everytime,” from the Roy Pablo EP, centric use of the D - E - A strings on the guitar.
“Te vas / come here” has Boy Pablo exploring a bilingual string ballad displaying his contrasting ideals. His significant other leaves and his objective view is making a point, but his subjective inner conscience fights the idea. This further progresses the themes within Wachito Rico, an album given a front to back treatment. It's centric idea of self growth is how it transitions smoothly from track to track with a little surprise every time.
This is vibrant on the track “Rest Up,” where the percussion focused instrumental breathes fresh air to Muñoz’s vocal changes. Initially starting with a semi-rap flow and turning to melodic and falsetto-like vocals allowing the backing vocals to add depth to the story.
There are many instants of spotlight moments with other tracks levying a background choir, but they never feel lesser. Some moments have slightly abrupt endings where I feel the melody can be everlasting. However it is great to see continuing growth from Boy Pablo and will soon land on more radars. Especially with the masterful writing in this story/album.
“Hey Girl,” the leading single for the album, shines with the certain touches from a guitar solo to silent but mood inducing waterphones and synths. This lively love song is unlike others where the moody pianos or guitars elevate the lyrics. Here Nicolas Muñoz writes with this bravado to succeed in impressing a girl who fluttered his butterflies upon seeing her.
Wachito Rico is a beautiful arrangement of ballads, jazzy string rock and pop music that has laid a blueprint in their musical direction. They are relatable and easy to listen to. It grabs attention from all audiences while maintaining the depth and artistic integrity.