Juan Wauters announces new album MVD LUV, shares candombe-inspired single

Juan Wauters has released ‘Manejando por Pando’, a new single from his upcoming album MVD LUV, out 27th June.

The track arrives with a video and follows earlier previews ‘If It’s Not Luv’ and ‘Dime Amiga’, which together form a loose three-part visual story.

The album is a homecoming of sorts for Wauters, who recorded it entirely in Montevideo, Uruguay; the city he left as a teenager and now pays tribute to in a record rooted in memory, rhythm and affection.

“This song works as an introduction to Montevidean music,” he explains. “The song is built over a drum ensemble playing candombe. The lyrics of the song come from an improvisation during the Wandering Rebel recording sessions.”

Candombe, an Afro-Uruguayan genre with origins in Montevideo’s colonial past, threads through the song’s hypnotic groove. ‘Manejando por Pando’ specifically embraces the milongón form, a slower, reflective branch of the tradition.

“We aimed to pay respect to the history and tradition of this music and also push the genre a bit further into the future,” Wauters says. “There are hints to traditional sounds and melodies but also a new way of interpreting the same old music style. One luv to candombe music!!”

The accompanying video, co-directed by Wauters and collaborators Lucía Garibaldi, Fatos Marishta, Eric McLeland and Matthew Volz, takes a literal spin on the lyrics. A character buys a car, drives through old neighbourhoods, reconnects with a friend, and ends up joyriding through wealthier suburbs; snipping bike chains, collecting them in a van and handing them out back home in Jackson Heights.

MVD LUV blends acoustic and electronic textures with ease, echoing the free-form experimentation of Uruguay’s 1970s and ’80s scene. But more than a sonic document, it’s a narrative one too. Recorded across homes, rooftops and sidewalks, the record captures the communal and improvisational energy of Montevideo, making the city feel like a character in its own right.

Wauters will tour the album this autumn across the US, starting in Brooklyn on 26th September and finishing in Chicago on 26th October.

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