Fantasía

Chronique

If a vocalist is originally from Mexico and records for Fonovisa, it doesn't necessarily mean that he/she is a hardcore regional Mexican singer. The vocalist's primary focus might be romantic Latin pop, which is what Mexican singer Iván provides on his Fonovisa release Fantasia (Fantasy). There are hints of regional Mexican music on parts of this album, and a brassy banda arrangement of the song "Silueta de Cristal" is offered as a bonus track at the end. However, the main version of "Silueta de Cristal" is strictly a Latin pop version, which isn't surprising because Latin pop is Fantasia's main ingredient -- and Iván clearly gets a lot of inspiration from romantic singers like Marco Antonio Solís, José José, Juan Gabriel, and Luis Miguel. In fact, Iván performs two Solís songs on this disc: "Mi Fantasia" and "Encadenado a Mi." Both of those tracks exemplify the album's smooth, urbane romanticism, as do "Eres Mi Mundo," "Murio la Flor," and "Angel de la Mañana" (a Spanish-language version of the Chip Taylor standard "Angel of the Morning," which was a major hit for Merrilee Rush in 1968 and Juice Newton in 1981). Not everything on this 32-minute CD is a ballad, but even when Iván favors a medium tempo, Fantasia never loses its romantic orientation. Iván, who was 24 when Fantasia came out in October 2009, is much younger than Solís, José José, or Gabriel -- all of whom were already major names in Latin pop before he was born in Mexico City in 1985. But stylistically, Fantasia clearly follows in their footsteps -- and while it doesn't do so with exceptional or mind-blowing results, it does so with likable and appealing results. Iván is well worth keeping an eye on.

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