Que Saben

When an album is totally written and produced by Mexican superstar Marco Antonio Solís, one has a pretty good idea what it is going to sound like. One expects romantic Latin pop/Latin adult contemporary, if you will, with Mexican overtones at times. And Que Saben definitely fits that description; this sleek, polished, ballad-heavy CD has Solís' stamp all over it. Solís is not the only major Latin producer Victoria has worked with; the Argentinean singer has also worked with the ubiquitous Rudy Perez, but Solís is an especially good fit for Victoria because of her romantic orientation. In fact, one of Victoria's primary influences is the late Spanish singer/actress Rocio Dúrcal, who also worked with Solís. Although Dúrcal was a true madrileña (a woman from Madrid), she was a madrileña who had a healthy appreciation of Mexico's rich mariachi/ranchera tradition. In fact, she was sometimes described as "la española más mexicana" — "the most Mexican Spanish woman" — because of those mariachi/ranchera influences, and similarly, Que Saben could earn Victoria a reputation for being a Mexican-influenced porteña (female from Buenos Aires). Que Saben is far from a hardcore mariachi/ranchera album — there is no doubt that Victoria is a pop vocalist first and foremost — but thanks to Solís, the Mexican touches assert themselves in a subtle fashion on "Abusas," "Hay Veces," "Muriendo Verte" and other Solís compositions. They aren't overwhelming, but they're there. Although not in a class with Solís' best work with Dúrcal, Que Saben is an enjoyable effort that makes one hope Victoria and Solís will have more musical encounters in the future.