“Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte” restores Iglesias to where his “bread is buttered” – his knack for balladry. What is missing is sheer greatness and innovative spirit. Neither hit nor miss, the song benefits from its brevity if nothing else.
“Heart Attack” falls into the same boat, chocked full of production ‘slickness’ – synths/keys, hard drums and acoustic guitars. While the slickness of the production with its palette of sounds and gimmicks and shouldn’t be undervalued, “You and I” sounds quite similar to a host of other pop cuts with its prominence of electronic cues. “You And I” is rather generically titled, and ultimately adopts that sentiment as a track itself.
The overall record is infectious with no strings attached – looser if you will. Part of the reason for more success is that “Let Me Be Your Lover” is less concentrated on physical pleasure and more about carefree fun. Pitbull returns for a second round on “Let Me Be Your Lover”, where both he and Iglesias step up their game. Vocally, Iglesias achieves more grit at times, while Santos maintains a smooth, cool tone. “Loco” is a lovely and pleasant song, if nothing truly revolutionary. A third consecutive Spanish-language cut proceeds in “Loco”, with popular Bachata singer Romeo Santos on board. Stripped of the production work that was a mixed blessing early on the album, “El Perdedor” feels more authentic, with more room to breathe. Similarly, “El Perdedor” continues this naturalness, this time finding Iglesias assisted capably by Marco Antonio Solís.
If “I’m a Freak” felt too forced and “There Goes My Baby” lacked authenticity, “Bailando” feels balanced and sound. Compared to the opening tracks, “Bailando” (“Dancing”) feels much more natural, not merely because of its Spanish lyrics. “Bailando” is yet another collaborative track, this time in the hands of Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona. Though it is less sex-oriented than “Freak”, “There Goes My Baby” couldn’t exactly be characterized as a love song, or at least a moving one. Honestly, given the rather blasé performances by both, they seem interchangeable. On “There Goes My Baby”, Iglesias essentially trades one pop-rapper for another in Flo Rida. Charming and chivalrous it isn’t, “Freak” is definitely ‘freaky’ and predictable from both artists. Early on, Iglesias asserts his ‘freakiness’ singing, “I love the way she gets so physical…like an animal.” Fill in the ellipsis for yourself with a plural four-letter word. On “I’m a Freak”, Iglesias is not playing around – look no further than the previously excerpted lyric.
“I’m a Freak” kicks off SEX AND LOVE with an assist from none other than one of today’s most ubiquitous pop-rappers, Pitbull. It ends up being what it is – kinda, sorta good, but perhaps at its best, average. Much of the rub with the album is its lack of imagination and creativity the overabundance of generic pop clichés and lack of depth lyrically prevents SEX AND LOVE from truly ‘spreading its wings’ into something more. The title SEX AND LOVE truly leaves little to the imagination, something prevalent throughout the album’s course. “I tried to let it go / But I’m addicted to your chemicals / I got a feast, I want an overdose.” Ay Yi, Yi, Enrique Iglesias – Ay Yi, Yi! The aforementioned lyric is the fashion in which the Latin-pop phenomenon kicks off his latest LP, the ‘subtly’ titled SEX AND LOVE.