Spring is in the air, so why not starting to look out for the potential signature summer songs? I deliberately don’t use the term ‘summer hits’, for Carte Blanche Music isn’t about hits, just about great new music.

European radio stations are often not adventurous enough to play genres like salsa, bachata or merengue, not even in the summer. While there is so much to like! Hopefully, the worldwide success of latin songs like Despacito, Mi Gente and Échame La Culpa will give a boost to other (and more authentic) music in Spanish as well.

What can go wrong when two veterans join forces? Victor Manuelle, from Puerto Rico, has been scoring latin hits since the mid-’90s and most recently featured on a salsa version of Despacito. Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra’s career started ten years earlier. He rose to global fame in 1990 with Burbujas De Amor, which is currently (and criminally) absent from streaming platforms.

Manuelle’s brand new just-released album 25/7 features an incredibly sunny duet with Guerra, that would be a great soundtrack for the summer of 2018.

For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.