Suave

The story behind

In Suave, the hook isn’t in the lyrics but in that bassline that coils like a sigh between the piano chords and the light percussion. It’s not a rhythm that invites you to move your feet right away, but one that ensnares you with its fluidity: a tempo that oscillates between the sensual and the playful, unhurried yet without pauses. The main melody, simple in appearance, repeats with a subtle variation each time it returns, as if Luis Miguel were winking at you as he sings it. The detail that stands out most when playing it is how the bass and acoustic guitar intertwine in the bridge, creating a contrast that rounds out the song without needing any harshness.The song was recorded in 1993 as part of Aries, the album with which Luis Miguel returned to his pop roots after the overwhelming success of Romance. Orlando Castro and Kiko Cibrián composed the music, and although the album includes collaborations like those of David Foster and Juan Luis Guerra, in Suave the sound is intimate, almost as if the team had worked in a confined space where each instrument had its precise place. The track reached position 9 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and in 1995 received a BMI recognition at the BMI Latin Awards. Later, in 2009, Hex Hector gave it a dance twist with a remix included in No culpes a la noche. The video, directed by Kiko Guerrero, was filmed in Acapulco and captures that golden light that seems to envelop the song. There are also memorable versions: Jerry Rivera’s in 1996, which climbed to number 1 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart, or the adaptation by the Argentinians Los Totora in their style of Santafesina cumbia.