Pop

Mexican group Reik returned to their pop roots with Panorama, a 13-track album that honors their past while exploring more avant-garde compositions. It’s their first LP since 2009’s Ahora, but that album was mainly comprised of past hits with only a few new tracks.

Released on May 10 under Sony Music Mexico, Panorama includes the previously debuted singles “Baja California,” “Abril,” “Gracias por Nada,” and “El Correcto” featuring Carin León, in addition to “Roomies,” “Te Odio,” “Vámonos a Mi Casa” with LAGOS, the album’s focus track “No Molestar” and its title track.

“I would say that we haven’t made an album like this since Des/Amor [in 2016], so it was super special. We genuinely felt like we had lost the muscle memory of how to make albums and how to work on them and release them,” says Reik’s vocalist, Jesús Navarro, to Billboard Español. “The first few weeks have been super overwhelming because at least I didn’t remember how much work it takes to try to release an album, but also promote it, add the finishing touches, and at the same time plan the tour, the music videos, the release, the promo… and it’s something we’ve done a thousand times before, just not all of them together in about 10 years.”

After spending several years experimenting with Latin urban sounds, Reik, which also includes guitarists Julio Ramírez and Bibi Marín, teamed up with the MiSHNRZ, a duo of producers made up of Ismael Cano Jr. and Matthew Rey. “We put a lot of heart and also a lot of thought into it. We didn’t want to settle,” Ramírez says. “We really wanted to make this a very unique album.”

“I think it was very automatic,” adds Marín about their reunion to create a whole new album. “I think when it’s time to do something, you just do it… The gears of the machine were always well adjusted. Right now, we are very excited that everything is going, that we are in this new stage and we are happy.”

Reik spoke with Billboard Español on Thursday (May 16) from Houston, where they gave a concert as part of their Panorama 2024 U.S. Tour. Presented by Loud and Live, the 25-date tour began on May 11 in Orlando, Florida, and ends on June 10 in Seattle. (For more details, click here).

Below, Reik breaks down five essential songs from their album Panorama.

“No Molestar”

Julio Ramírez: Now that I think about it, that was the easiest, oddly enough. It was super cool when this song was made, because the truth is that the album was mostly formed — I think we already had about nine songs or 10 — and we always wanted to keep everything in line with pop, to reclaim our sound… but change it a little so that it doesn’t seem like it’s the same from tracks 1 to 13.

And when “No Molestar” starts, wow! It happened that I was on the computer trying out sounds from the MiSHNRZ’s producer Ish (Ismael), and suddenly I said “That’s it!” They were the chords of the chorus, I remember. “TA ta ta.” So we immediately started humming the chorus and then we were like, “You know what? Let’s make a verse!” And we went to the first chords and we all got excited. For us it was a bit of a Bruno Mars vibe in the studio. We finished the lyrics and there is a video of everyone dancing, jumping, having an incredible time.

That feeling made us go like, “Wow, we got something special.” We always get emotional in the studio, but that song made us very emotional. And I love that we dared to include a super out-of-nowhere, French-ish arrangement at the end of the song; The Beatles’ “Michelle” was the inspiration. It was a treat for us, too.

“Panorama”

Bibi Marín: “Panorama” was, according to me, the first song that came out of this new stage, of these new experiments that we were doing. And when I say experiments, I mean that it was a very consciously decisive moment, where we started looking for the new pop sound for Reik. It was already very clear to us that we didn’t want to continue experimenting with urban… so we said, “OK, pop, but how?” Because we don’t want to sound like we’re going to release an album that could well have come out in 2004 or 2005.

So it was the first time we got together with the MiSHNRZ, who wrote almost the entire album, produced almost the entire album, in short. We got together and the first experiment that came out was “Panorama” — so for everyone, it was very refreshing and very inspiring. It was a new, fresh sound, it was somewhat challenging, but at the same time it made us feel that we were going in a very good direction. Even though it was a somewhat “rare” song for Reik, it was still a very pop sound. So much so that it even gave the album its title, and it marked a little bit the direction in which we began to move musically.

“Ojos Papel” (feat. Leo Rizzi)

Jesús Navarro: “Ojos papel” is a super special song to me. I believe Leo is one of the most special singers that we’ve heard in the new music scene in Spanish, and we are very aware of his existence. We had already made a track together on one of his albums — but it was a little strange because we were just out of the pandemic, and it was still difficult to travel, so we made this track and released it without having ever met in person. We just met at the [2023] Latin Grammys in Seville and we gave each other a very long hug, with a lot of emotion.

Only recently, when he was in Mexico City a few months ago, we got together to write with him, and this wonderful song came out. I think Julio hit the mark at the beginning of the session when he spoke with the entire team and they sort of agreed to let Leo take the lead in the session a little, so that we could get a song that was ours, but at the same time not characteristic, not what you would expect. I think the goal was achieved.

“Roomies”

Bibi Marín: I’m going to say “Roomies,” because apart from the fact that it’s a song that I love, I think it’s the song that pays the most tribute and reference to our origins in two senses: One, musically, in terms that it is a super light, good-vibe pop song; [and two] like literally at the end of the song, the outro is the introduction of “Qué Vida la Mía” [from 2005]. The idea not only of the song, but of the entire album and of this stage, is yes, to make the statement that we are returning to our roots — to a super-pop pop — and what better way than using a little piece of one of our first songs. I think this song covers a lot of space there.

“Baja California”

Julio Ramírez: “Baja California” is a spectacular song to me. It became so important that we opened the album with that song, and we also open the Panorama Tour show with that song. We find the video spectacular. It was really nice to go back to where we grew up, to make the video with Ry [Shorosky], who is a really impressive director from Utah. It turned out beautiful, the vibe is incredible. And I think it was super cool to make this track — I’m going to talk about it on an author’s level — trying to make a pop that’s much cooler, much more daring.

I mean, in my eyes, the approach was how we would sound with a kind of The Weeknd or Harry Styles vibe, but with our own handwriting — and “Baja California” came out. I don’t know, I love that song, I love that we’re mentioning Baja, we’re mentioning Rosarito, but putting it in the context of a love story. I think it’s super cool. I hope people like it. It sets the mood for the whole album.