Paz en la Tierra

Musically, this is the most conventional album of Meridian Brothers main-man Eblis Álvarez's career. Colombia's traditional music has always been a huge part of Álvarez's output, but so often he would delight in playing with convention, last year's Cumbia Siglo XXI, a delirious reconfiguration of cumbia being a prime example. It was cumbia, but never quite cumbia as we know it. On this collaboration with Bogotá's in-demand accordion player, Iván Medellín of Conjunto Media Luna, he has made the closest to a traditional album he surely will ever make.

Recalling golden-age vallenato or the cumbia campesina of Andrés Landero, Medellín's strident accordion is showcased perfectly, as are Álvarez's vocals. This format allows his words to shine better than ever before; these songs feel like modern-day vallenatos in the troubadour tradition.

‘El Profesionalismo es Importante’ (Professionalism is Important) is a semi-ironic tale of needing to be professional to make it in the music business; ‘Pensando en Mi Morena’ (Thinking of My Brunette) a tongue-in-cheek love song; ‘La Secta’ a break-neck puya about a friend wanting to start a sect for popular vallenato performer Diomedes Díaz. Diverting stuff, and when driven through by accomplished cumbia playing like this, it's hard to find fault.