Lido Pimienta is an evolving artist in every sense of the word. She became more internationally known with her breakthrough 202 album, Miss Colombia, which combined synthpop with cumbia, latin pop, and other Spanish rhythms with her soaring voice. The album was nominated for a Grammy, Juno, and Polaris, and grabbed attention in the likes of Rolling Stone. For the most part, it was a dancey album that used Spanish lyrics to contribute to his feminist and humanist edge. I’m sure everyone expected that she continued this dancey cumbia vibe with a Miss Colombia 2 type album, but sometimes, the best artists do the unexpected.
Instead, she has now dropped La Belleza—a sprawling classical, almost operatic album—featuring the 60-piece Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, the Coro La Belleza de Barranquilla choir, strings, woodwinds, brass, claves, drums, and cosmic dembow music—a drum rhythm that originated in the Dominican Republic. Collaborating with Canadian composer Owen Pallett, Pimienta arranged the orchestra parts, but it’s, of course, her vocals that cling throughout the album. With the whole orchestra backing her voice, the whole vibe is given an ascendant “holy” quality. La Belleza sounds absolutely colossal and feels like a romantic era opera from someone like Verdi or Wagner.
Trickles of Miss Colombia‘s dancey vibe bleed through at halfway points of “Quiero Que Me Beses” or “El Dembow del Tiempo,” but ultimately, this album is about romantic separation, and the dramatic music echoes this sentiment. On “Mango,” Pimienta explores queer love with poetic intimacy over a spare, glistening harp, and in “Busca la Luz,” she offers a final, uplifting cry for liberation and transformation. But more than just beautiful music, La Belleza is a radical act. Pimienta isn’t simply entering the classical canon—she’s reshaping it on her own terms.
