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Carlos Vives is stepping out of his comfort zone to give traditional Argentinian rock a try. The Colombian superstar known in Latin America and the United States for his cumbia and vallenato hit songs joined Fito Paéz to release the single, “Babel,” a piece included on his new album Cumbiana II.
Both artists tapped into their creativity to write the rock song, a style that influenced Vives’ career. As part of the creative process, production company Kogiman with contributions from Martín Velilla and Andrés Leal gave the final touches to the musical piece.
As reported by El Dia, Carlos Vives said that “when you make a song with this style, there is something of that Argentinian rock, of Charly García, Luis Alberto Spinetta and Páez himself, who allowed me to imagine that with tropical music I could invent my own rock.”
Although the track evokes Latin American folk music initially, listeners will enjoy distorted electric guitar, bass, and upbeat piano sounds. “Babel” recounts how difficult it can be to understand each other, especially when one pretends to be okay. “Babel, nobody wants to understand each other. They prefer to Rome and burn. The train leaves us again at the exit,” the song reads.
Vives revealed that besides paying tribute to Latin rock, they wanted to share a message of the importance of “understanding between countries and cultures, to a world that we can make possible thanks to music.”