Adrian Quesada - Boleros Psicodelicos (LP) - Red Vinyl

Adrian Quesada has worn a lot of hats, from co-founding Grupo Fantasma and Brownout to shaping the sound of Black Pumas, but Boleros Psicodélicos might be his most personal flex yet. The record arrived in June 2022 on ATO Records, and it feels like a love letter to a style he clearly treasures. Quesada digs into the lush, late-night world of 60s and 70s Latin American boleros filtered through psych and soul, the kind of records crate diggers whisper about. Think reverb-clouded guitars, tremolo shivers, organs glowing like neon, and strings that drift in like smoke through an open window.

He has talked about being pulled toward the era of Los Ángeles Negros and Los Pasteles Verdes, when romantic ballads got weird and fuzzy without losing their elegance. That compass guides the production. Everything here sounds textured and tactile, with the warmth of vintage gear and a patient, cinematic pace. It’s not a museum piece. The grooves feel lived-in, and the choices feel purposeful. You get a sense of Austin’s studio craft in the way percussion sits in the pocket and the guitars ring with that sun-baked clarity Quesada does so well.

The vocals are a big draw. Quesada builds the world, then invites a stellar cast to step into it. iLe, the Puerto Rican powerhouse and former Calle 13 singer, turns “Mentiras Con Cariño” into a knife-twist. She sounds intimate and dangerous, tracing small lies and bruised pride while the rhythm section pulses with a slow, irresistible sway. Girl Ultra slides in with a smoky cool that suits the after-hours mood. Gaby Moreno brings a luminous clarity, her phrasing delicate but assured. Angélica Garcia adds a fiercer edge, pushing against the production with a voice that cuts through like a spotlight. Natalia Clavier, long loved by Thievery Corporation fans, glides over the arrangements with a soft, nocturnal grace. The record is sung in Spanish, and the language fits the music’s contours perfectly, every sibilant and sigh wrapped in plate reverb and ribbon-mic warmth.

Sequencing matters on an album like this, and Quesada gets it right. He lets the tempos simmer rather than boil, so repeated listens reveal the production touches. A brushed snare tucked under a string swell. A baritone guitar shadowing the bass. A Farfisa-like organ answering a vocal line. You can hear the care in the way these songs breathe. It’s perfect late-evening music, the kind you put on while you cook or when the room goes quiet and you just want the lights low. On Boleros Psicodélicos vinyl, those textures bloom even more. The low end is round, the guitars sparkle at the edges, and the voices sit right in front of you. If you’re browsing a Melbourne record store and spot the sleeve, grab it. If you buy Adrian Quesada records online, this is the one that will keep finding its way back onto your turntable. It also sits nicely next to other Adrian Quesada albums on vinyl if you’re building out that row.

What keeps the album from feeling like a retro exercise is intent. Quesada treats this history with care, but he’s not chasing a perfect facsimile. He’s writing within the tradition and letting contemporary singers inhabit the mood in their own accents. It’s a conversation across time. The references are there for those who know, yet the songs stand on their own even if you’ve never heard of Chilean romantic soul or the Peruvian slow-dance classics. That balance is why the record drew nods from places like NPR Music and Rolling Stone. They heard what fans hear too, a producer at the top of his craft using fidelity and feel as his main instruments.

There’s a subtle thrill in hearing Quesada step out from the psych-soul halo of Black Pumas and go all in on this palette. The guitars still glide, but the rhythm language is different, closer to bolero’s poised heartbeat than to a funk backbeat. He trusts space. He lets melodies hang. He respects the drama that a single conga slap or a tremolo chord can carry. It’s romantic music without pretense, cinematic but human.

If you’ve been on the fence, consider this your nudge. Boleros Psicodélicos is one of those albums that deepens with time, and it rewards a front-to-back listen. File it next to your classic Latin soul reissues or your newest indie favorites. And yes, hunt down the Adrian Quesada vinyl pressing when you can. Even for folks spinning vinyl records Australia-wide and ordering across borders, it’s worth the wait. This is the sound of a curator turned auteur, and it plays like a warm night that never quite ends.