Soy (Lali Espósito album)

Background

In an interview to Argentine newspaper La Nación on June, 2015, Espósito confirmed that she had begun working on her sophomore studio album while she was on her A Bailar Tour and between Esperanza mía's shootings. In the same interview, the singer stated: "This second album squeezes a little more on everything, in hip-hop and dance [genres]; it is more definited. It will be such a rhythmic album, bound to dance, but I have used that title already [A Bailar]." In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Espósito admitted: "I'm very into the soul and gospel music, but I also want to trighten nuts on the dance and hip-hop music because the performances in my shows are a very important part". After a little holiday the first days of 2016, Espósito started recording the album and in April that same year, she traveled to Miami to mix it at The Hit Factory. In an interview with Intrusos, Espósito said: "There are some things that are related with my relationship with Mariano [Martínez] and some other things with my previous relationship [with Benjamín Amadeo]. Every single track has something. The album is called Soy because I am sharing the truth about what I think and feel. It is super personal." About the album, Espósito stated: "It is living meat, these are the songs that I wrote, it is just something that I had been waiting for a while". In an interview with El Telégrafo, Espósito admitted that twenty songs were written but only thirteen of them were included in the album. As regarding to the seven excluded tracks, Espósito didn't discard the possibility of include them on a deluxe edition or on her next album.

Release and promotion

On April 28, Espósito revealed the title and album cover in a fan trivia competition. The album pre-sale started on May 2, 2016. The album launch party took place on May 20, 2016 and was an exclusive event for 1,000 of those who had purchased the album on the pre-sale. To promote the album, Espósito made a few interviews in radio and television programs. A few hours after its release, the album was certified gold by Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (CAPIF) for selling over 20,000 copies in Argentina. Soy reached No. 2 at the iTunes charts of countries as Argentina, Colombia, Perú or Israel, being blocked to reach the top because of Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman.

Tour

Espósito announced the dates for the first leg of the Soy Tour on May 27, 2016. The tour began on September 8, 2016 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will travel across Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

Critical reception

The album received "the best reviews from the critics". Jorge Luis Santa María from the Mexican website Digitall Post summarized that Soy "is an album that shows her [Espósito] as she is without barriers, and includes stories that a person of her age can actually live or see". Belén Fourment from the Uruguayan journal El País opined that "even though there is some schizophrenia in Soy because it jumps from one genre to another without cushioning the fall, Espósito takes one more step with this album, she experiments, shows herself as she is, and that is always valuable" In the same review, it is said that the album has an "electropop sound, with very explosive passages and some distorted guitars that slips, but also has some striking turns".

Jenny Morgan from Pop en Español reviewed that "the album flows between a range of genres that include dance, club, pop, rock, and soul" and that "Lali’s vocal range blends well with all the genres she includes on this album". The reviewer also compared Espósito's sound with Belinda's but "with a better voice". Morgan ensured that the singer "will be breaking records with this release" and gave the album four and a half from five stars. Billboard Brasil named Soy as one of best 30 albums of 2016, and stated that it is "a very diverse album that does not lack anything".

Commercial performance

In Argentina, Soy debuted at No. 1 and was certified Gold by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers three hours after its release for album sales equivalent of 20,000 units. In Uruguay, the album debuted at No. 1 and stayed in the top for four months. On December 6, 2016, Soy was certified Gold by the Uruguayan Disc Chamber for selling over 2,000 units.

In Italy, the album debuted at No. 5 and was the highest-charting non-Italian album of the week. Soy debuted at No. 6 in Spain and at No. 82 in Mexico, where it peaked at No. 27.

Singles

The lead single and title track "Soy" was released as a surprise on May 5, 2016, along with the pre-sale of the album. Espósito said that the song is "a simple but deep definition to understand what it means to be oneself." She added that "[The lyrics] are my thoughts, my joys, my pains, stories and beliefs made song; music that makes us feel alive, that makes us be". The song peaked at No. 10 on the Argentina National Top 20 and at No. 15 on the Ecuador Pop 20, both provided by Monitor Latino.

On September 4, 2016, "Boomerang" was sent to radio as the second single off the album. The song is described as a karmic way of seeing things from the concept that everything returns. Santiago Torres from Billboard Argentina described the song as "of the album's most modern material" and named it "an insured hit due to its funny tune".

"Ego" was released as the third single off Soy on December 14, 2016. Its music video was shot in Villa La Angostura, Argentina in early November. The song has been compared with the previous promotional single "Unico" as not directly compatible compositions, but it was said that they both crearly reflect the life moments of a girl who still encourages to write, but now from a more intimate place.

Promotional Singles

"Unico" was released as a promotional single on March 20, 2016. The song was intended to be the lead single off Soy, but then it was changed to "Soy". Espósito had performed the song before its release at two previous shows of her A Bailar Tour in Buenos Aires on March 18 and 19. The song peaked at No. 5 in Paraguay and at No. 23 in Ecuador. Espósito stated that "Unico" is about "Some loves [that] are so deep and crucial that deserve to be heard as one, different and that have changed our heart[s]." The singer also admitted that the song was written to her ex-boyfriend Benjamín Amadeo by saying that "Unico is for the one who changed my way of seeing the world. Such was this love that it let me fly even though [I] was suffering. [It was] an unique love that I will always remember as a big truth. Perosnally, it [the song] is for person with whom I shared years of my life, real life. Unico is for everyone who loves beyond saying goodbye".

The second promotional single, "Tu Revolución", was released on December 21, 2016. The song is described as a 3.0 dubstep in which Espósito risks herself with a less self-look and tries to send to her young public a reflexive message. Belén Fourment from El País said that the song is "a valuable effort, especially for the supposed superficiallity of her firsts songs [the A Bailar ones]".

Songs

"Mi Religión", the eighth track of the album, and "Soy" are said the most personal songs of the album. "Amor es presente" is downtempo ballad with a gospel influence and some pop arrangements that remind us to Bandana's style. The last track of the album, "Reina", is a tribute to the British rock band Queen, which is one of Espósito's biggest influences. "The song reminds us to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody as it has a guitar solo similar to Brian May's style."

"Ego", "Boomerang" and "Ring Na Na", the fifth, sixth and eleventh tracks respectively, are the only tracks that counted with co-writers on its composition, Gavin Jones, Tobias Lundgren, Johan Fransson and Tim Larsson in the first one, Will Simm and Ayak Thiik in "Boomerang", and Michael Angelo, Eric McCarthy and David Kaneswaran in the eleventh track, aside from Espósito and her producers, Gustavo Novello, Pablo Akselrad and Luis Burgio. The last one is described as a love song that distinguishes between a dancehall style and a sexy pop. Meanwhile, "Lejos de Mí" is described as "a kick ass strong song that almost overpowers everything else on the album" by Jenny Morgan from Pop en Español. The reviewer also compared the song with Mónica Naranjo's "rock opera style of music" in 4.0.

Credits and personnel

The following people contributed to Soy: