While they continue their respective tours in Spain – the BIRA tour and the ‘N2STALG1A’ tour -, Hofe and Natalia Lacunza come together on a surprising joint song. I don’t know where to start commenting on it, if because of the chain of hooks of ‘This is not love’ or because of its obvious echoes of ‘Aserejé’.
Let’s start with the second, because the melody of the verse “I was writing songs to María” sounds possessed by the ragatanga rhythm: it is almost, almost, almost traced to that of Las Ketchup’s hit. In the comments of the video, several users also notice the similarity.
The similarity is uncomfortable at first, since we are not talking about a sample or an accredited interpolation, although it is possible that the similarity is coincidence. Not that it matters: the ‘Aserejé’ did not invent music or melodies. The discomfort, however, dissipates when you discover the number of “hooks” included in the song.
Between Natalia and Hofe, phrases are shared in Spanglish (“I want to give you a kiss”), a funny mention of a boyfriend who writes on Substack (of course), and rhymes like “how can it not be love, if she’s my Snoopy / she’s full of freckles, she’s my cute one,” until the song explodes into a chantable chorus. Each verse contributes to elevate the song, which does not falter.
And where does Mattin’s production take us? Its hybrid of hyperpop (those little synthetic bubbles), urban pop, breakbeat and flashes of Rio funk builds a piece clearly designed to kick off a good dose of energy during live performances. Mission accomplished, for sure.
