Pedro Tovar knows what Eslabon Armado is known for. As the project’s frontperson and principal singer-songwriter, he’s written, produced and performed some of the biggest hits in música mexicana today. And yet, as an ambitious young artist, he remains keen to traverse different paths within his chosen genre beyond the one he’s helped to pave. “The last album, it was just more our style, the sad, romantic style,” Tovar tells Apple Music, referring to 2022’s NOSTALGIA. “On DESVELADO, we wanted to go more like half-and-half with the sound of regional Mexican and with our sound.” Packed with collaborations, including the explosively popular Peso Pluma team-up “Ella Baila Sola”, Eslabon Armado’s latest full-length pushes back on expectations as it progresses forward lyrically as well as musically. Familiars and friends like DannyLux return, while contemporaries including Luis R Conriquez and Jhayco make for exciting new studio partners. Once again, Tovar took the reins, writing tracks with each potential team-up very much front of mind. Read more about some of his favourite DESVELADO tracks below. “Quédate Conmigo” (feat. Grupo Frontera) “I wanted to make a different sound, like regional Mexican, and I know they’re one of the biggest in regional Mexican right now. I reached out to the singer, and he was a fan. He’s my age, so he listens around our same genre. That’s around the time where their songs with Fuerza Regida and Carin Leon just blew up. They were still down to collab, but they were just way more busy. So we recorded it, I think, a month and a half ago. I feel like people are really going to like the song because it brings my style and my lyrics to a whole other genre that I haven’t done.” “Dame Otro Beso” “That’s my mom’s favourite. I wanted to make it similar to how we did it with Ivan [Cornejo], that style. I know people really liked that song [‘HASTA LA MUERTE’], so I tried to make a similar vibe. The lyrics are very sentimental and very intimate towards a person. At the beginning, I was iffy about it, but then my mom told me it’s a good song. My mom always likes all my stuff; she’s very supportive in that aspect.” “Así Lo Quiso Dios” (feat. Luis R Conriquez) “This song is one of my favourites. It’s a romantic song, kind of a toxic song. The guy doesn’t want his girl with anyone; he doesn’t want her to see no guy hitting her up. He gets hella jealous, and he just wants her for him. It’s the rhythm of what’s hitting right now. It’s kind of like ‘Ella Baila Sola’, but the lyrics are a little different.” “Ella Baila Sola” (feat. Peso Pluma) “That song was intended for him; it was for no one else. It was so easy to write, and as soon as I finished it, I called him. He was in the airport, so I sang it to him on the phone. I think it took us a month to actually come together to record a song in the studio. When it was mixed and finished, I was like, ‘That song’s going to be a banger.’ I previewed it [on social media], and then people were just super desperate to hear it, and they leaked it. Somehow, someone leaked it, and then I got super upset. I released it two days after, and it became like a mega song.” “Tomando Tequila” (feat. Jhayco) “Honestly, that was my dream collab. He’s my favourite artist. Someone on the team reached out on email, saying that he wanted to collab, and he wanted to remix ‘Ella Baila Sola’. I didn’t really want to touch it. So I told him to see if he wants to make a new song with me. His voice, it just fit perfectly. He wrote a whole new verse and made it sound way better. I didn’t think it was going to sound that good, and it sounded really good. It’s crazy.” “Me Decepcionaste” (feat. DannyLux) “I feel like I’m always going to have him in every album, and he’s always going to have me in his stuff too. He wrote ‘Jugaste y Sufrí’ and ‘SI SUPIERAS’, so I was like, ‘I want to write one for you. I want to see if my lyrics fit you.’ It’s crazy how the song I wrote fits him perfectly, because of all the situation that happened with him and his girl. When I sang it to him, it was weird, but he liked it a lot, and then he hopped on it. It’s very much me and him like ‘SI SUPIERAS’, that same style that people like.” “Hermosura de Mujer” (feat. Edgardo Nuñez) “Edgardo, I met him in a concert, right here in LA, and I went with my parents. I listened to his voice, and I recognised him from the work that he did with Fuerza Regida and Junior H. His voice was super cool. I texted him, and we just started making a good connection and decided to collab. I had this song where we added half guitars and bass and half accordion and tololoche. It’s a romantic song, too, and it’s super catchy as well.”