Espejos

Part of the increasingly active Spanish twee pop scene centered around the Madrid-based indie label Siesta Records, the solo debut of gamine-like singer Bel Divioleta is as charmingly childlike as the U.K.'s Would-Be-Goods or America's Softies. Divioleta, who's also the primary singer in Siesta's Las Escarlatinas, has the same sort of Claudine Longet-meets-Astrud Gilberto voice as ex-Belle & Sebastian chanteuse Isobel Campbell, but with a stronger sense of pitch. Her Spanish-language vocals are as unapologetically sugary as the delicate, largely acoustic tunes, but Espejos' 12 songs feature uniformly strong melodies and varied full-band arrangements that keep the album from falling into the usual twee trap of unvarying cuteness. A beguiling, charming record that transcends the inherent language barrier for English-speaking audiences, Espejos is a sheer twee pop delight.