While 2022 may have been a year completely dominated by a certain sad summer reggaeton album, 2023 drew its power from a set of familiar sounds that took on new prominence: tubas, accordions and a whole lot of lively, sneakily danceable beats. As we've been talking about on Alt.Latino for some time, Mexican Regional music broke through in a big way this year, and we found it incredible to witness the most boisterous and uncompromising sounds from that long tradition make their way across the world and to the top of the charts.

A strong feeling of authenticity to place and experience was palpable across the spectrum of Latin albums released in 2023, from the most popular to those deserving of more attention. To review all there was to love about Spanish-language music this year, hosts Felix Contreras and Anamaria Syare sat down with producer Isabella Gomez Sarmiento to discuss the ways musicians danced fearlessly across genre lines while showing up as their complete selves more than ever before.

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