Alvaro Soler might not be a hugely recognisable name here in the UK but in wider Europe and Latin America, he’s achieved incredible success. The 34-year-old Spanish singer has three studio albums under his belt – ‘Eterno Agosto’ (2015), ‘Mar de colores’ (2018) and ‘Magia’ (2021) – and his breakthrough debut single ‘El mismo sol’, released in 2015, was re-recorded as a duet with Jennifer Lopez. Four years on from ‘Magia’, Soler is back with fourth studio album ‘El Camino’.
‘El Camino’ (‘The Road’ in English) features 16 tracks (well, 14 really if you exclude the brief ‘Intro’ and ‘Outro’) and it sees Soler combining Latin pop with folk and wider influences from world music. ‘Distancia’ (‘Distance’) opens the record and it’s a folk-pop song that allows Soler’s smooth voice to drive the melody. The chorus sees him using his falsetto to great effect and the song is a catchy start. ‘Apágame’ (‘Turn Me Off’) ups the tempo slightly, mixing Spanish rhythms with a steady pop beat. It brings to mind the likes of Latin stars Sebastian Yatra and Maluma, and it’s a perfectly enjoyable song even if it’s not wholly original.
Soler is at his strongest on songs like ‘Santa Alegria’ (‘Holy Joy’), where he puts a modern spin on classic Spanish sounds. This is the kind of song that could be a great single and honestly it’s one of the best tracks on the record. ‘Regalo’ (‘Gift’) that follows is another example of Soler at his best, even if it does sound a little too much like its predecessor. ‘Lo Que Pasó, Pasó’ (‘What Happened, Happened’) featuring Marta Santos sounds a little too generic as does ‘Artificial’ (‘Artificial’), which is too middle of the road to really leave an impact.
The album’s latter half does have some highlights. The up-tempo ‘Con Calma’ (‘Calmly’) is almost a home run until the over-used whistle riff comes in, ‘Dicen’ (‘They Say’) is a welcome stripped-down moment that allows Soler’s voice to really shine, and ‘Jardín De Los Recuerdos’ (‘Garden of Memories’) shows that less production is definitely more for the singer. To often the album tries to chase trends and in the process of doing so, Soler loses what makes him so special.
Four albums in and Soler plays it a little bit too safe on ‘El Camino’. There’s nothing wrong with the record, and it’s a perfectly enjoyable listen, but there’s nothing here that really wows. When Latin music is being dominated by stars like Bad Bunny, Maluma, Manuel Turizo and Sebastian Yatra, other artists in the genre need to up their game. Spain’s Pablo Alboran has managed to maintain plenty of success by switching up his sound, and it might be about time that Soler followed suit. ‘El Camino’ is a well-crafted and enjoyable record, it just needed that extra oomph to break through.
Track list: 1. Intro 2. Distancia 3. Apágame 4. Te Imaginaba 5. Santa Alegria 6. Regalo 7. Lo Que Pasó, Pasó (feat. Marta Santos) 8. Mejor Que Yo 9. Artificial 10. Con Calma 11. Cero (feat. Namayana Women’s Choir) 12. Dicen 13. Buena Vida 14. Electricidad 15. Jardín De Los Recuerdos 16. Outro Record label: Sony Music Entertainment Release date: 10th October 2025 Buy ‘El Camino’ now
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