In “On ‘ASTROPICAL,’ Bomba Estéreo and Rawayana unite to celebrate lesser-known Caribbean sounds,” Isabella Gómez Sarmiento reviews the new album for NPR Music. Gómez Sarmiento writes, “ASTROPICAL’s self-titled album, out March 7, is a euphoric exploration of South America’s coastal sounds.” Here are excerpts; visit NPR Music to read this comprehensive review.
It started with one song.
The Venezuelan tropical rock band Rawayana joined the electro-cumbia Colombian group Bomba Estéreo in a Miami studio to work on a collaborative single. The artists instantly clicked, and the songs kept multiplying. Soon enough, Bomba vocalist Li Saumet invited members of Rawayana to her seaside hometown of Santa Marta to write a full album. There, against a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains and under the scorching Caribbean sun, they birthed a new supergroup: ASTROPICAL.
Since 2008, Bomba Estéreo’s exuberant, electronic melodies have ignited a free-spirited kind of mayhem on dancefloors around the globe. The group’s blend of psychedelic synths, traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms and eco-conscious lyrics launched them to the forefront of the Latin indie scene. Across five studio albums, over a dozen combined Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations and a coveted Bad Bunny collab, Saumet has reigned as a high priestess of dance parties — a spiritual guide rooting Bomba’s musical debauchery. [. . .]
ASTROPICAL’s self-titled album, out March 7, is a euphoric exploration of South America’s coastal sounds. “We’re living in very dark times for humanity and I feel like this kind of music is what we need to vibe on a different level,” Saumet tells NPR in Spanish. “All of the songs on this album are very positive; they’re meant to lift people’s minds and spirits.”
By joining forces, Bomba and Rawa set their sights on a less-explored Caribbean musical heritage, one they began navigating as solo artists. Whereas the Latin music boom of the past decade has largely centered genres like reggaeton, dembow and dancehall, ASTROPICAL‘s 12 astrology-themed songs feature dazzling champeta guitar riffs, gaita flutes and Afrobeats percussion.
“That’s what Bomba Estéreo and Rawayana have always done, and that’s where the magic is,” says Rawa frontman Beto Montenegro in Spanish. “We’re not necessarily reinventing the wheel, but we’ve always made music that’s a little different from what’s happening commercially, or what people are used to hearing. I think that’s where both bands meet and make sense of the world together.” [. . .]
Listen to “Me Pasa (Piscis)” [ASTROPICAL] here:
For full review, see https://www.npr.org/2025/03/07/g-s1-52396/astropical-bomba-estereo-rawayana
Photo above by Maria Jose Govea. See NPR Music.
In “On ‘ASTROPICAL,’ Bomba Estéreo and Rawayana unite to celebrate lesser-known Caribbean sounds,” Isabella Gómez Sarmiento reviews the new album for NPR Music. Gómez Sarmiento writes, “ASTROPICAL’s self-titled album, out March 7, is a euphoric exploration of South America’s coastal sounds.” Here are excerpts; visit NPR Music to read this comprehensive review. It started with
