Kali Uchis's "Sin Miedo"

 

            Hola amigos, today I’m going to give my take on the recently released Kali Uchis album “Sin Miedo” that came out in November 2020. I knew I was going to listen to this album in its entirety at some point, but time just drew me to other songs until I finally had the time to look back and see what this album was about. I have been a Kali Uchis fan for a while, particularly of her first full length album “Isolation”. I remember listening to this album while I was a student at UC Santa Barbara, and I’m telling you nothing is better than listening to her soothing voice as you look out to the waves on a beach. I loved her voice and I believe her vocals are very unique and soothing, making her collaborations with Tyler, the Creator’s mellow songs very exciting. That being said, let’s just jump into this album and see what we get.

The introduction of this album, “la luna enamorada” was a very chill song, having Kali show off her vocal expressions with a sense of ease as she shifts tones quickly to sing her lines. The background has Kali giving another set of charming vocals, making this song show how expressive Kali can be in her music. To me, this was a great introduction and I hoped that the rest of the album carried on this vibe. And it actually did! Each song was very sensual and chill, and it was amazing to hear Kali Uchis grab her pride as a Colombian native and mix it with the poppy sounds of American music. The themes that we hear in this album deal with mostly love, and how there are many ways to express love instead of having it be always physical. There’s a lot of ideas that combine love with religion, having faith and devotion towards your partner as you embark in life’s journey. Songs like “telepatia” and “vaya con dios” prove this point as we hear Kali show her vulnerability in the project. She also makes her opinion on how women should act in relationships known, having songs like “//aguardiente y limon %ᵕ‿‿ᵕ%” and “¡aquí yo mando!” promote aggressive and dominant femininity in life. Kali has always created this persona of her being a (pardon my French) “bad bitch” so it was something I expected to listen to as she stands her ground for her listeners to follow.

The use of Spanish and English in this project does a great job at furthering the themes I just mentioned as well. The song "fue mejor" is a great example of this as we hear Kali using Spanish for particular lines to increase the sensuality in her words and then uses English to up the tempo and create some clever rhyming patterns. The duality of these languages made me feel like I was in a sexy rollercoaster the whole time, and I give props to Uchis for being able to do this consistently for 12 songs.

            Overall, this project was really fun to listen to. To me personally, these thirty minutes I spent listening to this project gave me a lot more insight on Kali as an individual compared to any of her previous work. In this album I felt like I actually got to know her personality and her takes on how love should operate for women in the modern world. If you’re a fan of her music or haven’t listened to her before, I definitely recommend this project or her debut album “Isolation”. I hope you guys have a great day and best of luck this week. Peace!

IMPORTANT: none of the music heard on the video is mine and are owned respectively by their artists and music labels.