CD Review:  ¿¡Dime Qué?!  by Calle Real
(Calle Real Productions 2015)

Review by Michelle White , all rights reserved

Calle Real's "¿¡Dime Qué?!" is their third album and in the running for best timba album of 2016. The arrangements are sophisticated, with exciting harmonic progressions and spot-on use of gears and efetcos in the rhythm section, while the horns also impress with super-tight mambos that have tremendous groove. Calle Real make the most of what I love about timba with all its layering. "¿¡Dime Qué?!" has a rich instrumental texture: tres, piano, subtle synthesizer, elecric guitar, electric and acoustic bass and the horns, all woven together to create an irresistible dance album.

"¿¡Dime Qué?!" has ten tracks but I predict that two are not going to be used by DJs — the intro and the odd one-minute track "Donymood". To be honest, the only problem with the Intro is that they didn't make a full-length song out of it. It is an explosive start to the album,  opening with a furious piano tumbao and a catchy coro, but it ends all too soon after just over 1 minute — too short for the DJs but maybe just right as a section of a dance performance.

"Donymood" sounds like an old recording from a seedy bar and is the result of catching the ambient sound in a single mic. But it's all part of the mood of "Donymood", and I will say that as out of place as it may seem on a timba album, it is tailor-made for Quentin Tarantino's next movie set in Mexico.

This leaves us with eight dance tracks. "Somos el Team" is the third part of the Somos Trilogy an the mission statement of this album. Pa' que sepas que ya mi team está tocando, y si acaso quieres fiesta, Somos lo que estás buscando (if you want to party, we're what you're looking for). Each song, while supremely danceable, has its own colors.  "Te lo di" shifts from energetic to a contemplative, romantic mood at about 4 minutes. "Créeme" starts out with a combined piano/tres tumbao and a laid-back groove that I find irresistible, "Película en color" is another example of a timpop that Calle Real does so well. The album also includes a remake of "Hoah" —  one of the band's early hits previously released on Putumayo's "Baila! Latin Dance Party" with lead vocals by Magnus Ehrenborg — now featuring Thomas Eby's trademark voice . "Oye" is a dance track - but not exactly timba. It will do well at mixed parties, being an adaptation of a song by written by Rasmus Faber who is better known for his house music.  Calle Real's version starts more as a Latin pop hit before slipping into real timba with another signature tumbao by Gunnar "El Dony" Thullberg. 

One thing that separates Calle Real from the Cuban timba bands is that the lyrics don't  quite sound Cuban. Like the Cubans, Calle Real's composers draw from their own life experiences but Stockholm is not Havana, and while some experiences — such as love in all it's splendor and tragedy — are universal, others are not.  One good example of this is "Bienvenidos a mi país", which is a response to the nationalist and populist movements growing in Europe and around the world today. The guys from Calle Real are inviting the world in to party.

As someone who likes to sing along, I love that Calle Real is able to give us both masterful timba dance arrangements and lyrics with a conscience. The title track asks the questions ¿Quién quiere ser malo? Si no quieres ser bueno dime qué. ¿Quién quiere ser flojo? Si no quieres ser rico dime qué. The the album closes with "Entra la espada y la pared"  how do we handle it when life throws us a curve ball and we end up stuck between a rock and a hard place? As the song points out Son los momentos, que nos definen//Cuando elegimos que hacer (these are the moments that define us when we choose what to do) — wisdom worthy of Albus Dumbledore.

With "¿¡Dime Qué?!" Calle Real shows us that they are really coming into their own. Highly recommended for timberos and DJs.