Song of the Day: Cineplexx - Te Quiero

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week, all Song of the Day podcast songs have been selected by DJ Chilly, host of El Sondio, bringing you fresh, contemporary flavors from the diverse Latin alternative scene. Today’s song is “Te Quiero” by Cineplexx from the 2014 album Florianopolis on Nuevahola Records.

Cineplexx - Te Quiero (MP3)

As a musician, one of the difficulties is conveying certain moods and trying to express them in the abstraction of a song, hoping that the audience, ideally receptive, will jump on the bandwagon and at least enjoy the ride. Generally, topics like love, loss, and melancholy manifest themselves in artists’ work, and we feel a degree of connection to the music-maker if she does it just right. Yet, it’s an exciting phenomenon when a musician can make a beat or tune that encompasses an altogether new emotion, sentiment, or idea. Today’s Song of the Day, "Te Quiero," does just this, capturing what it might feel like to be abducted by a crowd of lovesick, mellifluous aliens and transported in their new-wave spaceship to a tropical paradise on a distant planet.

Sebastian Litmanovich, the master behind Cineplexx , is an Argentinian-native, London-based artist, who’s breaking into the Latin music scene by creating jams which draw influence from Afrobeat, funk, and bossa nova. With guest vocalists, songs sung in Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese, Florianopolis, Cineplexx's fourteenth release, is a collage of language, culture, and genres. It's a sticky snowball rolling down a hill, picking up shreds of Fela Kuti, David Byrne, Tom Jobim, and Chic along the way. Not long enough, "Te Quiero," the album's single, is a ridiculously danceable and contagious track that should leave you, at the very least, trying to tango with the person nearest you.

Wondering what that subtle tapping sound in "Te Quiero" is? Check out Cineplexx's promotional music video to find out. Also, be sure to stay updated with Cineplexx by following them on Facebook and Twitter.