Part of the new Chiquis album is built to go unheard. According to her team, every track on Flores En Mi Alma carries extremely low frequencies meant to connect with listeners' chakras, so subtle they are not consciously heard. The Mexican singer released the eight-track project Thursday, pausing the Banda sound that has defined much of her catalog.
The record follows a period of searching. Chiquis told Billboard that her creativity had felt blocked, and that a three-week spiritual retreat changed what she wanted to write about. The daughter of the late Jenni Rivera, she has spent most of her adult life in public view, from reality television to her podcast, Chiquis and Chill. Her team describes her as a three-time Latin GRAMMY winner, including the 2020 award for Best Banda Album. Her previous album, Diamantes, arrived in 2024.
Chiquis Swaps Banda for Cumbia, R&B and Reggae on Flores En Mi Alma
The genre map is wide. "PA' MI GENTE" leans on folkloric cumbia. "FLORES" moves toward R&B. "FÉNIX" is billed in the release as Avant Garde and Música Mexicana Contemporánea, and "GOOD Morning, Buenos Días" settles into reggae.
A review published by Yahoo Entertainment noted that "Pa' Mi Gente" tells the stories of immigrant workers over cumbia guiros. The same review pointed to the morning affirmations and the guided meditation that frame the album's more political moments.
"Flores En Mi Alma is the most vulnerable I've ever been in my music," Chiquis said in the release. "I wanted to create something that not only makes people feel, but also helps them heal."
The title track, "FLORES," was inspired by her husband, according to the release, which also calls the project her most introspective work to date. She describes the music as "música sanadora que nace del alma," healing music that comes from the soul.
Chiquis Brings Five Producers and Her Own Label to the Project
The release describes Flores En Mi Alma as her seventh studio album. It was produced by Black Brio, Ulises Lozano "El Licenciado," Richard Bull, Mika and Jona Camacho, under her own Sweet Sound Records label. Streaming credits list Aston Barrett Jr. on "GOOD Morning (Buenos Días)" and Camacho on "SOMOS."
Five of the eight tracks are original songs, the release states. The rest are an intro, "Amor y Luz," a spiritual interlude for Mother Earth called "Madre Tierra," and a closing guided meditation, "Soy LUZ." Streaming listings put the full runtime just under 19 minutes, which makes the album closer to a long EP in length and a mood piece in structure.
Bull is also a familiar name in her business circle. According to the release, he co-founded Busy Bee Productions with her and Sebastian Jimenez in 2023.
The low frequency layer is, by the team's own description, impossible to confirm by ear. What listeners can judge is the pivot. An artist known for Banda hits has spent under 19 minutes on cumbia, reggae and meditation, on a label she owns. Her next releases will show whether the pause from Banda is a detour or a new direction.
