Shakira – ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ review: empowering and renewed

22 March, 2024

shakira

After going through one of the most devastating celebrity breakups this decade, Shakira has spun her heartbreak into global pop gold. The title of the 47-year-old Colombian superstar’s first album in seven years says it all – ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ translates to “Women Don’t Cry Anymore” in English.

Although Shakira memorably roasts her ex in the most savage tracks of her career, this isn’t an LP that’s hellbent on revenge. Instead, she uses her most adventurous album, spanning genres like pop, EDM, rock, Afrobeats, and música Mexicana, as a form of self-therapy to channel her emotions and deliver an empowering comeback.

In June 2022, Shakira and her ex, Gerard Piqué, made global headlines after they separated following an 11-year relationship. Shortly after the breakup, Piqué went public with his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti. Nearly two years on, Shakira masterfully documents the demise of their relationship in a series of songs at the heart of ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’.

On the twinkling bachata of ‘Monotonía,’ she sings about a romance gone cold with Ozuna, lamenting in Spanish: “You left me because of your narcissism.” She goes scorched-earth policy on the knockout ‘BZRP Music Sessions #53’, taking aim at Piqué, his mother, and Marti with ‘She Wolf’ ferocity, backed by Bizarrap’s pulsating EDM beats. “Women don’t cry anymore / Women make money,” she sings like a battle cry.

Shakira is one of Latin music’s most prolific and poetic songwriters, and she offers the most insight into her breakup with Piqué on the heartbreaking ballad ‘Última’. While playing the piano, the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ hitmaker sounds like she’s on the verge of tears as she reflects on what went wrong. “How did you get tired of something so genuine?” she asks.

On the norteña-cumbia tearjerker ‘Entre Paréntesis,’ Shakira embraces the sounds of música Mexicana with Grupo Frontera, commiserating with the band’s lead singer Adelaido “Payo” Solís III about a relationship on the rocks. ‘Cómo Dónde y Cuándo’, meanwhile, revolves around a long pursuit of happiness: “Between the routine and the stress / Life is a bitch“.

The dazzling, Rauw Alejando-featuring ‘Cohete’ is a blast of feel-good pop. Following their previous collaboration, ‘Te Felicito,’ the pair continue to charm with their irresistible chemistry. “I just want to make you come… for me,” they sing together about an otherworldly rendezvous. The alluring ‘Nassau’ explores Afrobeats, with Shakira appearing to hint at a new lover in her life. “I had promised that I would never love again / You appeared to heal the wounds left by that one,” she purrs.

The most personal and striking moment on the album is the heartfelt ballad ‘Acróstico’, which features the two sons she shares with Piqué, Sasha and Milan. The young boys play the piano and sing with their mother about the healing power of love. Shakira’s prowess as a musician has clearly rubbed off on her children.

With a career that spans four decades, she continues to push the envelope for Latin pop music and make the genre a global event. All her previous records had at least one song in English, but this time, she opts to sing fully in Spanish. With this vulnerable yet versatile collection, Shakira shows there are no limits to the art of her catharsis through song.