One For the Record Book

Listening Post 34. An album that makes those “greatest of all time” lists is one you can listen to endlessly and never want to skip a track. Un Besito Más (One More Kiss) by the Mexican brother-sister, singer-songwriter duo Jesse Eduardo and Tirzah Joy Huerta Uecke is one of those records. It includes guest appearances by some leading stars of Spanish-language music, but nothing on their fourth album outshines Joy’s crystalline voice and Jesse’s piano/guitar/production. Ecos de Amor (Echoes of Love) is a sad and soaring end-of-relationship ballad: “I awake in the darkness thinking of you,” Joy sings, “the pillow still shows the trace of your head” (video 1). She’s at her most seductive in the rumba-inflected No Soy Una de Esas (I’m Not One of Those) in which she flirts with Alejandro Sanz: “’I better step back/Maybe it’s not too late to retreat,” she tells herself (video 2). 3 AM is a masterly mash-up of melancholy lyrics and upbeat, danceable music (video 3). Other highlights are the tropical fiebre de amor of ¡Ay Doctor! (Oh Doctor!); the trumpet-flavored Quiéreme Despacito (Love Me Slowly) and the torch song Me Soltaste (Let Me Go). Then there’s the tender title track, featuring Juan Luis Guerra, one of the patriarchs of Latin music; like Jesse & Joy’s late father, to whom the album is dedicated, the guest singer—and the song—provide an anchor for a wall-to-wall hit collection and also give it a good name. (Warner Music Mexico)

Note: Un Besito Más won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album and the 2016 Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album.