No Me Pidas Perdón - Single / No Me Pidas Perdon - Single

After a slew of albums and singles on Disa, Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizárraga signed to Select-o-Hits' ReMex imprint in 2012. A 16-piece group that performs a big, brassy form of banda with traditional, ornate horn charts wed to soulful modern melodies, their music is unremittingly romantic. While this has garnered them top chart success in the past, their unwillingness to shift directions from romantic canciones to more trendy gangster narcocorridos has also hurt them in the 2010s. But pop audiences are fickle and usually circle back around. The early high chart positions of No Me Pidas Perdón and its title single are signs that favor is once again shifting in their direction. These 12 tunes boast atmosphere as well as sophistication. There are only three tracks that aren't slow dances: the charging "Excepto a Ti," the humorous midtempo "Los Suficientes Huevos," and the mariachi-inspired closer "Vallendo Madre." There is an experimental side showing itself with Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizárraga; it reveals itself in "No Es Invento Mío," which weds norteño cancion to slow cumbia. It's a real highlight on the set and points to something that only close listeners will get: this group works with the ballad form in order to stretch it and evolve it, without ever forsaking tradition. They explore hidden nuances in harmony — both instrumental and vocal — as well as in rhythm, sometimes using two drummers or an electric bass, as well as the tuba, to create a music that's evocative of Mexico's past and while projecting its regional traditions into the future. No Me Pidas Perdón is pure gold.