Shout out to subscriber N_Gorski for today’s pick. They came to me in the comments on last week’s recommendation to ask what I thought about the new Sotomayor record. Well, I hadn’t actually heard it until now, but now I’m crazy about it.
The group consists of siblings Raúl and Paulina Sotomayor, from Mexico City. wabi sabi This is his first record after 2020 ProduceAnd it is pure joy. You can take a look at everything I’ve recommended over the past several months, and “fun” isn’t the way you’d describe it. but this is it wabi sabi It’s fun, chaotic, and absolutely dance-able.
Before this I was only familiar with Sotomayor because of a short documentary made by Ableton about Raul’s various projects. In that video, he discusses how his approach to making music has changed over the years. How he used to try to make things “fair” and “clean”, but now it’s all about “how much can we distort it” or “how much can we amplify it”.
You can definitely hear it in the music. The first track, “Me Dejo Llevar”, begins with a synth arpeggio that has clearly been stretched out in time to within an inch of its life. It is full of digital artifacts. There’s a light coating all over the track, as if everything is just shredding Sometimes So little. “Who’s There” also sounds just as edge-of-the-seat, and sounds like a dance floor constantly on the verge of riot.
The vintage electronic drum hits, droning bass, and echo-drenched noise stabs never reach full catharsis, but culminate beautifully in album highlight “Vida.” Here, Paulina gets up a sultry gear as she sings on the UK garage-inflected track, which eventually transforms into an Afrohouse club banger.
wabi sabi Ricochet between genres with infectious abandon. Afrobeat, cumbia, electro pop, R&B, and more come together to create 2026’s funkiest album yet. What makes it all the more impressive is that, despite all her unconventional sounds (donkey’s jaws?) and stylistic excursions, Sotomayor still has a distinct vision that puts the record together.
At no point is chaos in danger of taking over. It never feels like they’re both just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks; Everything is a carefully considered decision in the service of the party. The gently swirling guitar of “Yo Se Todo De Ti”, the classic house of “Todo Se Derumba” and the dancehall of “Prende La Palma” all feel unified by Paulina’s undeniable charisma on the mic and Raul’s uninhibited sonic curiosity.
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