You know, there’s nothing more beautiful than Vals Venezolano in a modern sound. This has been made possible thanks to the talent of multi-instrumentalist Fillo, who has reimagined Venezuela’s traditional music, combining joropo and Merengue Caraqueño with contemporary motifs. Vals Venezolano lives its own life beyond academic concert halls and folklore festivals. This music was played, and continues to be played, at family celebrations, in bars, on the streets, in the hands of pueblo orchestras.

But that’s precisely why it survived: the waltz remained flexible, absorbed influences, changed along with the people who played it. Now, Venezuelan folk remains a living organism, continuing to evolve in the hands of diaspora musicians who grew up between two worlds: the memory of their homeland and the reality of a new geography.

Fillo, a multi-instrumentalist from Boca Raton, belongs precisely to this generation. His new EP “Sonidos Mestizos” comes out at a moment when Latin American music is experiencing another wave of global attention, but interest in it is often focused on urbano and reggaeton. Fillo moves in the opposite direction: he takes traditional forms—joropo, Merengue Caraqueño, Vals Venezolano—and filters them through the lens of modern production, working together with the group Snake Lounge. The result sounds captivating, like an old photograph restored in color, which highlights forgotten and faded shades, giving the modern person understanding and clarity.

The EP “Sonidos Mestizos” collected 3 tracks, overflowing with unique sparkling energy. Fillo‘s waltz beautifully melted my thoughts about celebration, home, and the life that surrounds us. Yes, this was a real Vals Venezolano, but turned inside out thanks to vivid lyrics and a mix of styles and contemporary genres. I had never heard it like this before. Fillo‘s music explores the Venezuelan sun, culture and traditions, and is framed in the glossy and free sound of Florida’s unyielding winds. You know, this November release will warm you in winter, and in summer will give you moments of pleasure en la feria (sí, those legendary pueblo ferias where live orchestras play till sunrise, three generations dance together, and nobody remembers who started the conga line but everyone’s in it now) and allow you to experience the atmosphere of these festivals with orchestras, family, and true freedom.

The opening “Por Fuerte” begins with a guitar serenade, and at first I thought I would get exactly what I expected—a beautiful ballad. But almost immediately the arrangement veers toward a dance groove, the rhythm section pushes the track forward, Fillo‘s trumpet bursts in with a hot brass splash, the vocals return danceability to the song. I caught myself nodding my head to the beat. Here the moment of stylistic tension is interesting: the song balances on the edge between ballad and dance number, constantly threatening to fall to one side, but maintaining balance. Sunny, energetic, hot “Por Fuerte” ignites the flame, while the lyrics ground the romantic flair in everyday life, returning to ordinary existence. The production is clean, glossy. Perhaps too much so for material with such folkloric roots, but it’s precisely this polish that adds conceptuality to the EP in its reimagining of folk sound with contemporary sonics.

“Manolo!“ turned out to be an incendiary carnival, and it seemed to me that Fillo at first deliberates whether to give himself over to the fun completely, but his heart pushes toward bright notes, where the music finds true passion. Guitar cascades sparkle, the folk motif pulses at the track’s foundation. This is fiesta—red dresses, street musicians, admiring glances. Here there are no prohibitions, no rules, and the waltz becomes passionate, sensual. Fillo works with dynamics masterfully, the song begins almost pensively, then makes a decision and surrenders to the energy. This is what the energy of Venezuelan roots transplanted to Florida soil means.

The closing “Apasionado” slipped through the night lights, and here I finally understood the scale of Fillo‘s vision. A slow trumpet solo soars in the languid southern air. Somewhere in the distance an orchestra is playing, but the couple in love doesn’t care—they’re dancing a slow waltz to remain in each other’s memory forever. A soaring saxophone blesses them, and then a jazz drum enters with bright contemporary elements. Around the third minute the melody breaks, the atmosphere changes, and modern pop sound bursts into the familiar sonics, flirting with light blues. The track lasts 6 minutes 51 seconds, and during this time it surprises incredibly. The mesmerizing aroma of night flowers, the coolness of waves. I imagined all of this most vividly while listening to “Apasionado“, where music speaks without words what they whisper in the darkness. Fillo demonstrates mastery of jazz music, improvisational lines, tempo changes, structural shifts. The track cuts off unexpectedly, and this suddenness leaves the feeling of an unfinished conversation whose continuation you want to await.

I listened to Sonidos Mestizos several times in a row, and my thoughts rushed through a bright country with houses reflected in the sea, burst into hundreds of red hibiscuses, juicy oranges, kisses under the moon. In this music the veil of restraint, composure, modesty is cast off. The scarlet heart blazes with many fires: from invitations to merriment to sighs on a bench under the moon, where an orchestra plays in the distance, reflecting musical lights in the waves. The timid serenade “Por Fuerte“, the bright carnival “Manolo!“, the jazz night “Apasionado“. The first invitation to a date among the lights, then an incendiary dance, and the finale under the moon, where the sea whispers and the party slowly subsides. Three tracks build into a whole story, one lived day or a portrait of an entire life—it’s your choice!

*Promoted content. All information provided is prepared in accordance with editorial standards and is intended to offer useful insights for readers.