Lucía Molina’s project, released under the name Luz Uzal, has moved fast since debuting with “38,” a Radio Click Digital-praised reinvention of Latin soul, and “alma,” a stripped-back, visceral single I covered back in February, built around the line “Mi madre pierde las cosas.” “Selling You a Lie,” out June 30th, is a cover, reworking a Franklin Gotham indie original into something considerably bigger, trading that project’s rawer folk-jazz textures for a full orchestral arrangement, chamber strings, brass, woodwinds, all built on the same acoustic-guitar foundation that’s anchored her earlier work.
The signature Latin Disney-princess sound I described in my review of “alma” continues here, and she’s really embracing that sound as her own territory; honestly, no one else on the scene can even compete here. I can draw some comparisons to RAYE, but she’s very jazzy, while CRUZA has a very obvious Latin flavor with a classical-music basis in the arrangements and a cinematic flair that’s much more straightforward with the drama. The vocals, as always, are breathtaking and are the centerpiece of the song.
What’s different this time is scale. Where “alma” worked through restraint, letting a handful of guitar layers and Molina’s voice carry all the emotional weight, “Selling You a Lie” goes the opposite direction, opening hushed before swelling into a full string-and-brass arrangement by the back half. It’s a bigger swing than anything she’s put out before, and the fact that it’s a cover rather than original material makes the choice to go this theatrical feel a little more like a statement piece than a natural next step, an artist testing how far this aesthetic can stretch before it snaps.
It doesn’t snap. The dynamic build from whispered verse to full belt gives the arrangement somewhere to go, and Molina’s voice holds the center of it the same way it did on the two singles before this one, just with a much bigger room to fill. “Selling You a Lie” won’t replace “alma” as the clearest introduction to what this project does best, but as a showcase of range, it’s the most ambitious thing she’s released yet.