Nadie miente tan lindo como él

(In advance, I don't know that much about Mexican music, so apologies if this is lacking context or key information.)

What makes a bad album cover? Sure, there's always messy ones, or ones that look like they had a budget of about a dollar, but ultimately, those don't bother me too much. What's really bad, though, is an album with a cover that makes you embarrassed to have it in your collection, the sort of cover that you hide the sleeve of in hopes no one else will ever see it. Alessandra Rosaldo's (or just Alessandra; her real name is Alejandra Sánchez Barredo) second album, Rompecorazones, has one of those covers. What marketing executive actually approved the "let's have her sitting on a chair with her legs apart so you can see up her short skirt" cover shot?

Regardless, the second solo album (I'm not counting Amarte es mi pecado, as apparently that was basically a reissue of her first album with a few more tracks) by this former member of the duo Sentidos Opuestos has some good songs on it. Primarily dance or dance-pop, they're not very deep-sounding--I don't mean in regards to lyrics, although you could generally say that, too, but rather that the songs aren't particularly full or layered. I wouldn't say they're fluffy, as they're too slick for that, but they do feel sort of light, toppied with glossiness.

Ámame, Bésame--I think this was the album's lead single. It was written or co-written by Thalia, though one site I read said that she just wrote Spanish lyrics for English songs (she also wrote two other songs on the album) Alessandra had already released; I don't own any of her other albums, so I don't know, but I'm not sure what album it would be (if you know, please let me know!). At any rate, the title means "Love Me, Kiss Me," and, as that implies, the reason to enjoy this song isn't so much the meaning of the lyrics as how they and the music sound--slightly sweet but very much in a dance-pop style and delivery, complete with "aahh-ahh"'s. Actually, the simplicity of the lyrics may be a good thing, especially in the chorus, which is a very simple but catchy thing. As people on YouTube (flashy lights! dancing!) have mentioned, the video may be a ripoff--heck, you could even argue the song and the CD are--but they're fun.

Rompecorazones--or "Heartbreaker" in English. More dancefloor stuff, which is fine by me. The chorus here is still slick, but, through the use of "sí, sí" and some electronic effects, it's more punctuated. If you're curious, Alessandra is singing to a heartbreaker, not saying she is one, though the use of this as the album's title as well would give the opposite impression, too. I don't have too much to say about this song, but it's good.

To buy Alessandra's second album, Rompecorazones, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe something Danish.