Leire Martinez who joined the band after winning a competition to front them when Montero decided to pursue a solo career.
Their latest album is in my opinion their most polished, and best sounding of all their albums, and Leire lends a clear voice with great sing-along potential, ideal for people learning Spanish who also want to listen to great music.
Their most recent album, A las cinco en el Astoria, was released in September 2008 and became the 12th most sold album of the year, and even now in July 2009 is still giving the band top ten singles. the album hit number one in Spain and Argentina, and did well in other Spanish speaking countries.
The album opens with a really upbeat rock track, El Ultimo Vals, that immediately tells you this isn't going to be an album filled with ballads. In fact the album is quite different to their previous albums, I'm not sure if Leire's influence is being felt, or if Amaia Montero had too much influence, certainly if you took the two or three upbeat songs from each of the four previous albums and put them together you might end up with an album like this one.
Inmortal continues the upbeat rock tone, and is a great song for singing at the top of your lungs around the house. Inmortal contains one of my favourite lines, "Sere inmortal, porque yo soy to destino", sere being the future tense of I am, so I guess this line means I'll be immortal, I am your destiny. In English it doesn't make much sense, so listen to the Spanish lyrics to really appreciate the beauty of this song.
The next song, Jueves is a really sweet ballad number, and again Leire's voice is crystal clear, and it's a very easy song to sing along to, filled with wistful longing. Frankly if like me you listen to Spanish music to help learn the language, this album should be a mandatory purchase. You can get the album from 7Digital
