Pablo Langaine’s new EP Nostalgia doesn’t play by the usual Latin rock rulebook. It doesn’t even flirt with it. This isn’t your mum’s Santana vinyl or your abuela’s bolero cassettes — it’s a moody, widescreen, orchestral offering from a guy who’s clearly got more than just a passport full of stamps; he’s got the whole atlas swirling around in his brain. Based in Los Angeles but sounding like he’s floating somewhere between Bogotá and a Hans Zimmer afterparty, Langaine drags Latin rock out of the dusty cantina and slaps it onto a film set.
Let’s start with ALUCINACIONES. It’s a thick stew of warped guitars, jittery beats, and almost hallucinogenic work. It feels like walking through a dream where the mariachi band’s been replaced by a shadowy orchestra on ketamine. Langaine’s production is ambitious here — he’s clearly flexing his composer muscles, layering tension like a man who’s scored shootouts and heartbreaks for the big screen.
ANOTHER CHANCE leans more into the poppier edge of the spectrum, riding a groove but it doesn’t hit quite as hard emotionally as it thinks it does. Langaine’s talent is absolutely not in question, but occasionally he veers into territory that feels a little too engineered, like he’s aiming for cinematic rather than visceral.
By the time ENERO 5 hits, though, there’s a clear shift. This is the standout. It’s got teeth. There’s a pulsing behind the groove, like someone smiling through a breakup with a bottle of mezcal in one hand and a molotov cocktail in the other. The fusion of traditional instrumentation with a modern rock backbone here finally clicks in a way that feels natural, unforced — earned. It’s one of those tracks that feels timeless without sounding dated, and it’s where Langaine sounds most like himself, rather than a brilliant amalgamation of his influences.
The title track NOSTALGIA slows things down — obviously — and does so with a kind of lush melancholy that you don’t hear enough in Latin rock. It’s not weepy, it’s reflective, the kind of tune that plays in your head while you stare out the window of a bus headed anywhere but home.
Y AL FINAL closes the record on a high, fusing all the best elements of the EP into one cinematic climax. It’s like everything that came before it — It’s dramatic without being cheesy, intricate without being academic. Still, there’s that persistent polish again. You get the sense Langaine is almost too careful, like he’s afraid to let things get truly ugly or unpredictable. Sometimes the best moments in rock happen when you drop the score and just play the damn thing.
Still, Nostalgia is a hell of a calling card. Bold, elegant, layered. It’s music for people who want more from Latin rock than recycled tropes and tired rhythms.
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