Amante Bachata

Nearly a decade after embarking on a solo recording career, Joseph Fonseca switched styles from merengue to bachata for his fourth studio album, Amante Bachata. Beginning with his full-length solo debut, Noches de Fantasía (2000), the Puerto Rican singer established himself as one of the decade's most successful merengue artists, scoring hits on the tropical charts with the follow-up albums Escuchcame (2002) and Adios Amor (2005) and singles including "Noches de Fantasía," "Dame una Oportunidad," "Que Levante la Mano," and "Por Tu Amor." During the latter half of the decade, however, he was uncharacteristically quiet, releasing only the in-concert album Live (2007). He breaks the silence with Amante Bachata, his first studio album in four years. Unlike his past albums, which found him perfecting the merengue style, Amante Bachata is an album comprised almost entirely of bachatas on which he collaborated with Dominican singer/songwriter Víctor Víctor and musical director Junior Cabrera. Indeed, three of the nine songs were written by Víctor Víctor: "Te Llevo Dentro," "Amor Sideral," and "Esquína Fiel." Besides these Víctor Víctor songs, the highlights of the album include its opening track, "Amante Gaviota," and its closing one, a merengue version of "Tu Cuerpo." The latter ends the album on an upbeat note that should please fans of Fonseca's more typical merengue style. The bachata style of Amante Bachata shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, given its recent popularity in the marketplace, and thankfully, Fonseca takes the album seriously, recording it in the Dominican Republic with Víctor Víctor and keeping his music as authentic as ever. While it's a refreshing change of style for Fonseca, who sounds inspired and in fine voice, his inevitable return to merengue will be reason to celebrate. In the meantime, Amante Bachata offers plenty for tropical music fans to enjoy.