Buscabulla - Regresa Music Album Reviews

The Puerto Rican duo moved back to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and their joyful and melancholic new album takes stock of their changed home.

Home is a complex concept for Puerto Ricans. The island from which we hail is both part of the United States and not; as an unincorporated territory, its residents are citizens but can’t vote, can move freely between the island and the mainland yet are still seen as immigrants. Like many Puerto Ricans, Buscabulla’s Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo Del Valle left the island and made New York City their home, seeking opportunities otherwise unavailable to them. And they’re not alone; there are more Puerto Ricans in the greater New York area than in the capital of San Juan. But for everything that New York has to offer that Puerto Rico does not, there are parts of Puerto Rico that can’t be brought up north; the white sand of the beaches, the sounds of the jungle, the local traditions that stretch back centuries. For some, the only solution is to come home.
Berrios and Del Valle moved to New York City separately to pursue their dreams, met at a house show, formed a band (its name is Puerto Rican slang for “troublemaker”), and started a family. But while they made their lives in the city, their spirit never left Puerto Rico, and the first two Buscabulla EPs were colored with deep longing and existential displacements. “Frío este duele” (“this cold hurts”) Berrios sang on “Frío,” their collaboration with Helado Negro, from EP II, yearning to warm her blood under the sun of her hometown. Once a record deal gave them the cushion to make the leap, they left New York six months after Hurricane Maria had battered their home. As thousands of Puerto Ricans fled the ravaged island for the States, Berrios and Del Valle headed in the opposite direction, packing up their life and moving back with family in tow. Regresa is the story of that return.
But the home they returned to was not the one they had left, nor were they the same people who had once absconded north for creative pursuits. Many of their close family and friends had left or passed away, and vulture capitalists had already descended, seeking “economic opportunity.” The songs they wrote and recorded at their home studio in Aguadilla, a coastal town on the western side of the island, were joyful but melancholic. Regresa maintains their brand of tropical synth pop, but while their first records could be cheeky, poking fun at Latino machismo, this LP probes deeper questions of life and identity.

The first song they wrote after arriving in Puerto Rico was “Vámono,” an indignant march inspired by local marching bands as well as Beyoncé’s Coachella set. Its video features traditions from their respective hometowns: vejigante masks from Carnaval de Ponce (where Del Valle is from) and the Festival de Las Mascaras of Hatillo, from whence Berrios’' family hails. It expresses the urgency of their journey—“Viene vamonos que es tarde ya” (“Come on let’s go it’s already late”) Berrios sings—as well as the overwhelming terror of what’s next (“Quien me va ayudar?” or “Who will help me?”).

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Berrio and Del Valle made much of the record in isolation, but they found ways to inject fresh energy. Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift, Solange, Blood Orange) mixed the album and contributed additional production, and Nick Hakim’s pre-COVID-19 visit to their home bore fruit in the form of several songs, including contributions on “El Aprieto,” English vocals on “Volta,” and a co-writing credit on “Mio,” a screed decrying the political and corporate influences that are turning the island into a tax haven for the one percent. An orchestral arrangement from Helado Negro’s Roberto Carlos Lange gives an otherworldly tint to “Club Tú y Yo,” a romantic ode Del Valle wrote for Berrios.

But it’s the contributions of the famed 71-year-old Puerto Rican actress and singer Nydia Caro that keep the album from veering into darkness. The song marks the shift from angst to acceptance: “Light comes after the greatest darkness/You can't see the stars if you don't have a dark night/Let the darkness be your impulse towards Light,” Caro murmurs. Buscabulla’s Puerto Rico may be a paradise lost, an oasis devastated by an apocalypse. But from the moment they returned, they’ve been picking up the pieces and rebuilding; their home, their community, and themselves. After years of yearning from 1600 miles away, they’re home, and they finally sound whole.

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About Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera

Hey, I'm Perera! I will try to give you technology reviews(mobile,gadgets,smart watch & other technology things), Automobiles, News and entertainment for built up your knowledge.
Buscabulla - Regresa Music Album Reviews Buscabulla - Regresa Music Album Reviews Reviewed by Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera on May 19, 2020 Rating: 5

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