Premiere: COQUÍ, ‘Fall in Love’

Kevin Bronson on March 4th, 2021

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Dating back to the music he released when he was part of Tapioca & the Flea, Samuel Jacob Lopez Jr. has always been adept at hitting the sweet spot, lyrically and melodically.

He has juggled his solo project COQUÍ, launched in 2018, with other musical duties, including studio work and a touring gig with 30 Seconds to Mars. The son of a father who was a club DJ in Brooklyn and a mother who was a Puerto Rican salsa dancer, Lopez has been busy writing (and doing covers and remixing) during the pandemic.

And Friday brings the release of “Fall in Love,” the first single as part of his new deal with Paris-based Echoism Music. And as the new track suggests, the singer-songwriter-producer is best at sheer ebullience — comfortable with and even embracing his squishiest emotions.

Inspired, he says, by the cartoon “Rugrats” and “Sgt. Pepper’s”-Beatles, “Fall in Love” (officially out on Friday) is a simple affirmation of love, a pop tune with a retro feel but modern production. Lopez directs the video for the song, with animation by Alina Naumenko.

Here’s to “smiling daily for the first time.”

||| Stream: “Fall in Love”