Jorge Drexler - Bailar en la cueva [Spain Import]

Bailar en la cueva sends Uruguayan songwriter Jorge Drexler onto the dance floor, a 2014 album where his finely carved songs meet Colombian rhythm, here as a Spanish import pressing.

Drexler had long been known as one of Latin music's most thoughtful writers, an Oscar winner whose songs often feel like small philosophical essays set to guitar. For his eleventh studio album he went looking for movement, recording the first sessions over two weeks in Bogotá before finishing the record in Madrid with his regular band.

Colombian musicians push the groove forward, with the scratch of guacharaca and cumbia-inflected rhythms running through the set. Li Saumet of Bomba Estéreo adds her voice to the title track, a celebration of dancing as something as old as humanity itself, while Ana Tijoux trades lines with Drexler on the sharp, playful "Universos Paralelos."

The emotional anchor is "Bolivia," featuring Caetano Veloso, a moving tribute to the country that sheltered Drexler's father and his Jewish family after they fled Nazi Germany. Elsewhere, "Todo Cae" picks up extra muscle from co-producer Eduardo Cabra of Calle 13.

It's a record that thinks and sways at the same time, pairing big ideas with bodies in motion. On vinyl, its warm percussion and close harmonies feel especially vivid, and it invites you to roll back the rug.