Across the Universe

Listening Post 120. As a lyricist, Juanes has been compared to John Lennon, as a humanitarian to Bono. He has sold 15 million albums and has honors to spare. So what more does the Colombian singer-songwriter aspire to? Well, there was his boyhood dream of becoming an astronaut… His latest album—marrying guasca and cumbia to classic rock—is an elegant, passionate collection of a dozen love songs; based on music alone, they rank among his best. It also has 12 accompanying videos, giving the songs a narrative visual track, with Juanes as an astronaut traveling through space and time to find the love of his life—traversing dreamscapes and forests, pursuing phantoms in tropical bars, down dark streets and drinking an ayahuasca brew to aid in his quest. In El Ratico (We’re Running Out of Time, duet with Kali Uchis), he muses on the breakup fueling his mission: “I wanted to give you blue sky/And a trunk full of memories” (video 1). He sorts through love-resentment issues in Hermosa Ingrata (Beautiful Ingrate): “If I had known a little more, I wouldn’t have gotten involved,” he protests, “I won’t play your game any more” (video 2). Alguna Vez (Once, featuring Fonseca) asks, “Have you ever gone mad loving?” (video 3). His soul mate floats beside him in the title track, which reveals a double meaning—when sung, it can be “My plans are to love you” or “My plans are… to Mars: “It doesn’t matter if fate has already decided/I’ve left fears behind/We’re going to win against all odds” (video 4). Does he find his love? The audio/visuals are too impressionistic to be sure, but this is an optimistic, fresh and imaginative project. Juanes may not be a real astronaut, but Mis Planes Son Amarte is out of this world. (Universal Music Latino)