Viva Tu, Manu Chao (2024)

With the release of Clandestino in 1998, Manu Chao created a new sound, an original fusion in senses musical (reggae, punk, folk, blues), linguistic (Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Catalan, Arabic), and thematic (justice, heartbreak, joy). “Fusion” in the best sense of that word—not a forced meeting, but a revelation of threads that already connect what seems separate. Ska upstrokes sink easily into rumba beats, Portuñol drifts through the mist of the Brazilian borderlands, broken-hearted laments and prayers of gratitude become indistinguishable. Viva Tu is not a new album. It’s a continuation of the revolutionary human solidarity project that began with Mano Negra and continued with Clandestino, Próxima Estación: Esperanza, and La Radiolina. Manu Chao will be criticized for recycling beats and melodies, and for writing songs that read like lists. Such critiques miss the point. This is all one novel, one symphony, and there are passages—”Tantas tierras en el mundo/Tantos mares por nacer…Todo el mundo sin saber/La que algún dia va caer”—when all the magic of music, and the grace of being alive, comes forth. 9

Manu Chao. Viva Tu. Because, 2024. Reviewed May 23, 2025. Notable tracks: “Tantas Tierras,” “Vecinos en el Mar,” “Tu Te Vas,” “La Couleur du Temps.”