Hailing from the creative hotbeds of Leeds and Wakefield, Buen Chico have arrived on our blog for the first time through their fourth album, PRIMETIME.

By Graeme Smith

PRIMETIME is an album that challenges convention. At times it gives us rock, at other times pop, and at other times something else entirely. Lyrically, it says a lot, particularly in cutting moments like the laser-sharp irony of Pioneers, the philosophy of Chase Me and the wordplay of Telling Reaction. All are highlights, along with the soaring Because I’m Boring and the swaggering cynicism of Negative People.

It’s an album that could only have been born in West Yorkshire and features a cavalcade of influential people from those parts. It brought a smile to my face, for instance, to see Bodys promoter Emily Ingham listed in the credits on backing vocals. It’s also an album that’s been a long time coming. It’s Buen Chico’s first full-length release since 2016. I think fans will find it worth the wait.

“In writing previous albums, I’ve always felt some pressure to get something finished within a reasonable time frame,” says singer Morgan Tatchell-Evans. “This time, there was no avoiding the fact that the album was going to take a while to complete because of family commitments. This forced me to take the time to live with each new song, honing it, refining it, and fixing anything that irritated me. I called it PRIMETIME because I tried to make every song a real stand out, attention grabby nugget of pop goodness.”

I can attest to the fact that he’s managed it. There’s so much replay value in this album. I’m just a little ashamed that I haven’t discovered Buen Chico before. Better late than never, I suppose.

PRIMETIME is out now, available to buy as a digital download or on CD via Bandcamp. You can give it a listen below.