After the release of two stellar EPs Colour and Pastel, Los Angeles Latinx artist Katzù Oso has finally unveiled his debut album with Tmí. In every way, Oso’s album is an immersion into the Boyle Heights neighborhood he grew up in. And he brings it all to life via the love story that unfolds throughout the album to the tune of his lush melodic soundscapes. Tmí radiates with Oso’s eclecticism — every song seems to melt dreamily into pooled combinations of disco, R&B, and reggaeton.
The glistening shimmer that opens the album, “Sin Explicación” is a harp twinkling introduction to the sublime fantasy of Tmí. But the song also foreshadows Oso’s decision to inject more of his Spanish lyricism into his songs, deepening its exploration of the cultural roots ingrained in Boyle Heights and greater Los Angeles. Swooner “Don’t Ask Why,” one of the album’s first singles, remains a verifiable jam with its sparkling chorus and Oso’s soothing croons.
Then there’s “Solo En Mi Fantasía,” an acoustic sprinter of Juanes-esque spirit that serves as one of the album’s breathless anthems. On “Diabla,” Oso slows things down with a murmuring ballad filled with the exhale of flutes and sad strings, letting the swelling instrumentals fill his heartache. “Thinking Too Much” offers up the only feature on Tmí with Oso joining forces with duo Honeywhip to give a melancholy but loving duet that drifts through the song’s hazy atmospherics.
Oso ends his magical tale of love amongst the Los Angeles hills and valleys with the ecstatic rush of “Last Summer In Boyle Heights.” Against the wail of trumpets and dashing percussion, Oso tries to reconcile what went wrong and what went right while musing over his romance. And then it all explodes in a synth explosion of spiraling disco rapture.