New Music From Rene Lopez

Photo credit: Dan Monick

Eclectic NYC musician Rene Lopez has just announced his new EP, Love Has No Mercy – set for release October 21st via Liberation Label. Whilst Rene’s earlier records have flirted with every genre from salsa to soul, the seven tracks on Love Has No Mercy are a decidedly more dance-friendly affair. The record, which incorporates the sanguine Latin influences of his previous albums & interjects them with healthy doses of disco & funk, seems tailor-made for both impromptu house parties & late nights at the club.

Love Has No Mercy’s title track, which features vocals from NYC powerhouse Carol C, is equal parts Chic & Giorgio Moroder: a siren song of synthed-out futuristic disco that swings with a certain effortlessness that brings to mind nu-disco hits as much as old-school Donna Summer.

Listen: Rene Lopez – “Love Has No Mercy”

Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, Love Has No Mercy is a remarkably slick statement of intent. Tracks like “Lovegod” & “City Streets are Dead Tonight” pulse with the same kind of subdued electro-funk that made early Prince & Rick James tracks so eternally irresistible. For Rene, the tracks represent a natural musical evolution- a move from the sweaty rock & Latin grooves of his previous albums to a place located firmly on the dancefloor.
A native New Yorker (and the son of renowned salsa musician Rene Lopez, Sr.), Rene grew up absorbing the non-stop musical melting pot that the city had to offer, eventually channeling those influences into his own music. A jazz-trained drummer & multi-instrumentalist, he recorded with a variety of band projects (The Authority, Extra Virgin) before taking wing as a solo artist, eventually perfecting a style that he came to refer to as E.L.S. (Electric Latin Soul).