Released June 27, 2025 on ATO, Boleros Psicodélicos II is Adrian Quesada's sequel to his 2022 love letter to Latin America's late-'60s and '70s wave of psychedelic balladry. This time he co-produces with Alex Goose (Childish Gambino, Aaron Frazer's Into the Blue), and the result pushes the bolero template further from the museum and closer to the present — heavier grooves, harpsichord flourishes, distorted guitar lines, and hip-hop-influenced rhythm beds running underneath the heartbreak.
The guest cast is again the headline. Where Volume I leaned on iLe, Marc Ribot, and Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Volume II pulls in a fresh wave of Latin alternative voices alongside a few returning collaborators.
Cool stuff:
- Co-produced with Alex Goose, the same crate-dig hip-hop producer behind Aaron Frazer's Into the Blue (2024) — a continuation of Quesada's habit of bringing in producers from outside his usual circle
- Features Cuco, the LA bedroom-pop singer-songwriter who broke through with self-released Spanglish dream-pop in the late 2010s
- Hermanos Gutiérrez, the Swiss-Ecuadorian instrumental duo on Easy Eye Sound, contribute their signature reverb-drenched twin-guitar sound to one of the tracks
- iLe and Angélica García both return from Volume I — the only repeat collaborators across the two records
- The expanded cast also includes Daymé Arocena (Cuban jazz/santería vocalist), Gepe (Chilean indie troubadour), Monsieur Periné (Colombian gypsy-jazz combo), and Ed Maverick (Chihuahua lo-fi)
Spin it for: the second chapter of Quesada's bolero-psicodélico project, with a more modern production approach and an even broader Latin-alternative guest list.
Standouts: "Mi Vida" (feat. Cuco) · "Rio Frio" (feat. Hermanos Gutiérrez) · "Te Espero" (feat. Angélica García) · "Esperando Tu Amor" (feat. iLe)
Sources: ATO Records announcement · Billboard · Tape Op interview · Austin Chronicle review · KAXE Album of the Week