Buscabulla gets real about love in lush new LP, ‘Se Amaba Así'
On Friday, June 13, the Puerto Rican synth-pop duo released its sophomore album, 'Se Amaba Así,' a 10-track collection of atmospheric, Caribbean-inflected grooves that reveal the inner workings of their evolving love.
It marks a new era for the pair, who five years ago received high praise for their debut album, 'Regresa,' a melancholic LP that documented their return to Puerto Rico from New York in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The duo then teamed up with hitmaker Bad Bunny on the evocative ballad 'Andrea,' a track from his critically-acclaimed 2022 album, 'Un Verano Sin Ti,' which alluded to the growing rate of gender-based violence on the island.
The couple's career gains came along with a series of disruptive life changes, including the death of Berrios' father, as well as a forced move to San Juan due to rent hikes in their hometown of Aguadilla. The couple, who are also raising a preteen daughter, together had to reckon with the intensity of the past few years and the toll it took on their romantic relationship.
'It's hard to know when work stopped and when the relationship was there,' says singer and keyboardist Berrios in a video call. 'It's ironic because what drew me to Luis was that he loved making music.'
In 'Se Amaba Así,' they detangle the threads that held their love together for all those years, in search of a deeper clarity. The LP begins with the cinematic 'El Camino,' in which Berrios names her feelings of aimlessness amid the meandering swirls of electric synth; and it ends with 'De Lejito,' a progressive take on a salsa ballad, in which Berrios stresses the importance of personal space in partnership.
Also unique to this album is the voice of guitarist Del Valle, which had never before been heard in Buscabulla's catalog. His breathy vocals glide effortlessly through salsa tracks like 'El Empuje' and the thrilling rock rhythm of 'Mortal.'
'It's a profound thing to explore,' says Del Valle. 'What is love's utility today?
'No relationship is perfect and being in a band is really hard,' adds Berrios. 'It was liberating to confront these feelings, now I feel a lot lighter. It's alchemy to me.'
Buscabulla will kick off a month-long U.S. tour in Miami on June 19, then touch down at the Belasco in Los Angeles on July 3.
This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.
You dive deep into your own romantic relationship with this latest album. Were there any hesitations heading there? Del Valle: Personally from my end, I've never felt very comfortable divulging my intimacy to the masses. Historically it's Raquel's point of view. It's looking toward the outside world, perhaps inner turmoil as well, but it's never been us talking to each other on that record, which is what this one is. She really pushed for it and all the artists I like do that, they're vulnerable.
How did the theme for the album come out? Why was there a need to tell this love story through music?Berrios: Our last album came out five years ago. We released it in the middle of the pandemic without really knowing [how it would do]. We weren't really able to tour until a year and a half later, after it came out. Those first years were a bit bleak for us in our career. Then post-pandemic we were in this 'What are we going to do now?' moment.
The Bad Bunny collab happened and then it was like 'Bam!' It was an intensity of zero to a 100, both beautiful and validating. A lot of people discovered us through it, but it was also intense. Then after that, my father passed away, and it made me reflect on my own life and relationships. We had to move from the west side of the island because it got gentrified. There were all these changes that were affecting our relationship at the time. When I started writing songs on the piano, those were the songs that were coming out.
You're both romantic partners and music partners, how has that dynamic shifted with this new album? Del Valle: There's this push and pull, creatively. I think we are both passionate people. It makes for tension-filled situations to be [more] common.
Berrios: It's a unique thing — at least it makes for good art. We were inspired by the sibling duo Pimpinela, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac — any sort of band situation where there were relationships. We wanted to channel a similar thing, but for the modern era.
What song was the hardest for y'all to write or sing? Berrios: 'Incrédula' was a hard song to write. It's a song about being in denial about loss. It was a hard song to put words to.
Del Valle: Both 'El Empuje' and 'Mortal' were super hard. I had never really sang on the project or written a song from my perspective. It was cool and uncomfortable to speak and bear your heart with the other person in the room saying, 'Yes, that's good.'
Berrios: For example, 'Mi Marido' challenges the idea of marriage and whether [the] institution matters for a relationship. Conceptually it was hard to put into words my thoughts and feelings about it, and also, using words that were catchy and worked for a song.
There are social critiques in the namesake track, 'Se Amaba Así,' that pick at what people assume love is. Why was it important for you to highlight this? Berrios: If you can't have a good relationship, it's probably tied to unresolved feelings about love in your life. This is the turning point in the record. Through the death of my father and going to therapy, I realized all the stuff that I carried. I had not recognized patterns [in my parents' relationship] that I was repeating. Toward the end of the song you hear our daughter's voice, so it [comes] full circle.
How have you changed because of this new album? Berrios: This album made me grow up a lot — it was a lot of inner work and confronting your shadows. I feel way lighter.
Del Valle: It was very empowering to be able to give my side to the story and set a counterweight in our work. Before this, I would've never dared to sing and write on a record, but it felt like the right moment.
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