a summer without you it also includes collaborations with independent artists such as Marías and Bomba Estéreo, and dives deep into diaphanous dream-pop textures and melancholy synth interludes that feel vast and intimate. The soundscape is reminiscent of indietronica artists like M83, but Bad Bunny and his producers Tainy, MAG and La Paciencia immerse it in a Caribbean glow.
Both MAG and Bad Bunny were inspired by Buscabulla’s exuberant synth pop, and the singer said he heard Came backthe duo’s album in 2020, over and over once more during quarantine.
“It was Easter Sunday and we received a call from a bunny,” joked the duo’s multi-instrumentalist, Luis Alfredo del Valle, in a telephone interview. In “Andrea,” Bad Bunny presents a portrait of a Puerto Rican woman who hopes to live her life on her own terms, and Buscabulla vocalist Raquel Berríos takes on the voice of that character. “I felt that the choir had to have a lot of weight regarding what it means to be a Caribbean woman,” said Berríos. “I’ve never worked so hard on a song.”
Del Valle commented on Bad Bunny’s “indie leaning.” “It’s quite noble that he has that platform and is willing to bring in people who aren’t usually in that arena,” he said. Berríos agrees and comments: “Music should be like that. I should be free.”
Bad Bunny has a musical sensibility that exemplifies how the conventional is sustained by alternative initiatives; a way he likes to make big statements in the industry. In other songs, the singer makes more direct social commentary.
As was the case with “Estas bien,” “El apagón” is a song that captures both the beauty and the tragedy of Puerto Rican life. The composition refers to the blackouts that persisted following a private consortium took over the island’s power management last year. But it also incorporates fun quotes from old-school reggaeton, including lewd lyrics from DJ Joe’s “Fatal Fantassy” mixtape. It even ends with a farewell to investors who have come to the island seeking tax breaks, driving up home prices and displacing locals. “Let them go,” sings Gabriela Berlingeri, Bad Bunny’s girlfriend. “This is my beach / this is my land”.
“This is a song of mine, from my heart,” Bad Bunny said, explaining that he wrote the lyrics for Berlingeri to sing. “I didn’t want to look for a famous artist. I wanted someone to sing it out of love, because it’s a sincere message.”
