If
Destiny's Child performed in Spanish instead of English and embraced Mexican pop instead of hip-hop-minded urban contemporary, what would they look and sound like? One possible answer would be
Aroma, a Mexican female foursome that is every bit as visual and image-driven as the group that put
Beyoncé Knowles and
Kelly Rowland on the map. That isn't to say that
Aroma actually sounds anything like
Destiny's Child; stylistically, they are two worlds apart. Rather, the comparison comes into play because
Aroma, like
Destiny's Child, is an all-female group that has put considerable effort into projecting an image that is both sexy and carefully cultivated. But
Enamoradas, the quartet's third album, isn't a case of all image and no substance. While
Aroma's members certainly aren't shy about exploiting their obvious sex appeal,
Enamoradas underscores the fact that they have talent and vocal power to go with their good looks and sexy attire; even if you haven't seen what they look like,
Enamoradas offers an enjoyable dose of Mexican-style pop-cumbia. Like
Amor de Tres (
Aroma's second album), this 2003 release is more consistent than their debut album -- and stylistically, things haven't changed for the group.
Aroma still combines sleek Latin pop with the Mexican version of the Colombian cumbia rhythm, and they still favor material that is sweetly girlish but not without some bite. Of course,
Enamoradas doesn't cater to cumbia traditionalists; this 2003 release definitely isn't cumbia in the classic Leonor González/Alberto Pacheco/
Lucho Bermúdez sense, but it is a decent example of Mexican artists using cumbia in a commercial (but tasteful) Latin pop fashion.
Amor de Tres is arguably the best album that
Aroma recorded for Fonovisa in the early 2000s, but
Enamoradas isn't a bad addition to the group's catalog. ~ Alex Henderson