You probably know Chilean-Norwegian singer-songwriter Nicolas Muñoz – otherwise known as Boy Pablo – from his 2017 single Everytime, the video for which went viral on YouTube, racking up millions of views within just weeks of being uploaded to the site thanks, in part, to a quirk of the website’s algorithm. Until that song dropped, Muñoz had enjoyed a growth in popularity in his homeland of Norway, gigging around his Bergen hometown and playing the Bergenfest festival. But Everytime sent Muñoz and his music global, and he’s building on that momentum with the release of his debut album Wachito Rico.

Within the first few seconds of the opening track i hope she loves me back, it’s clear Muñoz has stuck to the dreamy, indie-pop blueprint that spawned his previous runaway success. On the album’s lead single hey girl Munoz croons against a slick disco-tinged melody “say you love me now / please I am scared as hell / I’ve never been in love before, I don’t know what to do / hey girl do you like me? / I guess that’s a stupid-ass question / I’m asking ‘cause I’m nervous”. That’s what Muñoz excels in, turning those feelings and big moments of young life into wonderfully catchy and perfectly simple three-minute pop songs.

te vas // don’t go is probably the most sizeable deviation, a painfully tender acoustic affair, but generally speaking, the tempo remains high and the melodies absurdly catchy throughout, even when Muñoz tackle’s more troublesome subjects such as a break up on leave me alone! and his own well-publicised struggles with anxiety and insomnia after finding fame at such a young age on new single rest up. Elsewhere mustache warrants attention for its fantastically trippy sound and lyrics (“I dreamt I had a moustache / It was dope, I looked just like Tom Selleck”) and album title track Wachito Rico and Honey are joyous pop numbers that Muñoz makes it sound offensively easy to construct. Of course, they’re not, and therein lies his talent.

Muñoz’s parents fled Chile in the 1970’s after Augusto Pinochet seized power, finding refuge in Norway, but the young man is clearly very proud of his South American roots. Frequently throughout the album he breaks into Spanish, and even the ‘Boy Pablo’ moniker is derived from a loose translation from a Chilean slang of ‘handsome boy’, a sort of alter ego of Muñoz’s. Whether singing in English or Spanish though, Wachito Rico is a gloriously charming collection from a young man striking while the iron is hot.

Wachito Rico tracklist:

1. i hope she loves me back

2. hey girl

3. leave me alone!

4. honey

5. rest up

6. te vas // don’t go

7. aleluya

8. come home

9. mustache

10. vamos a la playa

11. wachito rico

12. nowadays

13. i <3 u

Watch the official video for rest up here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.