On her solo album debut, Me Quedo Sola, Paty Cantú, the former lead singer of the duo Lu, reveals herself to be a talented pop/rock singer/songwriter with a bright future ahead of her. Cantú co-founded Lu earlier in the decade with guitarist Mario Sandoval, likewise a talented songwriter from Guadalajara, Mexico, and the duo released two albums, Lu (2004) and Álbum (2006), that spawned the respective MTV México staples Por Besarte and La Vida Después de Ti. The bandmembers split up in 2007 and went their separate ways. Sandoval founded the female-fronted band Sandoval with a few of his friends, while Cantú embarked on a solo career. The breakup was perhaps inevitable. Though Sandoval was the one credited with writing the bulk of the material on the two Lu albums, Cantú was clearly the fan favorite, and had not only superstar potential, but songwriting ambitions of her own. Upon embarking on her solo career, Cantú took her time. She reportedly wrote dozens of songs, refined them with the help of professional songwriters, and worked closely with two different yet similarly accomplished Latin pop hitmakers: Luis Fernando Ochoa, who produced and co-wrote Shakira's early albums Pies Descalzos (1996) and ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998); and Loris Ceroni, whose production credits include albums by Alejandra Guzman, Reyli Barba, Kalimba, María José, and Natalia Lafourcade. The resulting album, Me Quedo Sola, is a well-crafted pop/rock effort comprised of ten songs, all except one of which were co-written by Cantú. Me Quedo Sola is brief, clocking in at 36 minutes, but the upside is that there's no filler. Every song is high-quality, and there's a good balance of pop songs and power ballads, the latter of which are Cantú's forte here. Indeed, with the exception of the spry album-opener, Un Amor Diferente, the primary highlights of Me Quedo Sola are all power ballads: No Fue Suficiente, Déjame Ir, Me Quedo Sola, and Eclipse. The other songs tend to be more upbeat, and while in general they're all good, Cantú is at her best when she's singing emotional songs about teenage heartache. This is in part because of her youth. Only 25 years of age at the time of Me Quedo Sola's release, Cantú is relatively young for a singer/songwriter and therefore can deliver these emo-inflected power ballads with sincerity. She still has a ways to go before she's a fully developed singer/songwriter, but she's off to a promising start with Me Quedo Sola, an impressive debut album on which her talent is evident. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

1		Un Amor Diferente
2		No Fue Suficiente
3		Dejame Ir
4		Pensarás en Mi
5		Solo por Estar
6		Me Quedo Sola
7		Ayúdame a No Llorar
8		Fui una Mas
9		Eclipse
10		Quiero Todo Quiero Nada
11		[CD-Rom Track]

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow