"Otra Noche en L.A." () is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

for Martin's second

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

'' (2022). The song was written by Oneil, Casta, Martin, Juan Vargas, Keityn, and Lexuz, while the production was handled by Lexuz and Casta. It was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is a record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. History In 1979, CBS Records (now Columbia Records) ended its partnership with C ...

on January 27, 2022, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the EP. A Spanish language

mid-tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

soft pop Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...

and

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, with elements of

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

, it is a

love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

about an ex-lover who has gone and the adventures they had together in Los Angeles. "Otra Noche en L.A." received widely positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who complimented its production and Martin's vocals. The song was commercially successful in Latin America, reaching number one in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Uruguay, as well as the top 10 in Costa Rica and Mexico. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, released simultaneously with the song, was directed by Daniela Vesco and filmed in Los Angeles. It depicts Martin remembering his ex-lover, while lounging around a house and driving a car around Los Angeles.

Background and release

started recording his eleventh studio album, initially titled ''Movimiento'', in the second half of 2019, inspired by the 2019 political protests in Puerto Rico. While, because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and subsequent personal experiences, Martin decided to split the album ''Movimiento'' into the two EPs ''

Pausa In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pausis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in cer ...

'' and ''Play''. He released ''Pausa'' in May 2020. On December 19, 2021, Martin shared a photo of himself on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, with the caption, "A day in the office #videoshoot #newsingle". Almost one month later, he revealed the song's title as "Otra Noche en L.A.", shared the artwork, and announced that it would be released on January 27, 2022. The song was released for digital download and

on the specified date, as the

from ''Play''. An " Orbital Audio" version of the song was released simultaneously with the original. Martin explained about the song: He added that the song "is born from those memories that keep us alive, motivate us or accelerate us". He described the track as "magical", saying that he hopes the listeners "identify with it and enjoy it".

Music and lyrics

Musically, "Otra Noche en L.A." is a Spanish language

and

, with a

shuffle beat In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

and elements of

. It was written by Luis Angel O'Neill Laureano "Oneil", Luís Miguel Gómez "Casta", Martin, Juan Vargas, Kevyn Cruz "Keityn", and Lenin Yorney Palacios "Lexuz". The production was handled by Lexuz and Casta, and the track runs for a total of 3 minutes and 31 seconds. Lyrically, "Otra Noche en L.A.", which translates to "Another Night in L.A." in English, is a

dedicated to an ex-lover who has gone. It is about the adventures they had together in Los Angeles and being away from the beloved one in the city. The romantic lyrics include: "Vuelve / Que el café se me enfría / Perdona lo infantil / Fueron tiempos de rebeldía / Ayer miré tu foto y yo con el corazón roto / Por qué en la foto debo estar yo suponía" (Come back / That the coffee gets cold / Forgive the childishness / Those were times of rebellion / Yesterday I looked at your photo with a broken heart / Because I was supposed to be in the photo).

Critical reception

Upon release, "Otra Noche en L.A." was met with widely positive reviews from

. Stephen Daw from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as "a gorgeous ballad" and praised its production for bolstering the track. He also complimented Martin's "incredible, emotional vocals" for elevating the song to "a new level", labeling his vocal " sweet sound". Also from ''Billboard'',

Leila Cobo Leila Cobo is a Colombian journalist, writer, novelist, pianist and television show host. She is noted for her coverage of Latin music for ''Billboard'' where she is currently the Chief Content Officer for Latin Music and Español, overseeing the ...

commented that "the allure is irresistible" for the people who have lived in Los Angeles, while "the beat and the lyrics will do the trick" for the other listeners. She praised the song for being "impregnated with emotion" and veering from "the stereotypical reggaetón beat" with soft rock beats and doo-wop background vocals for "an overall cool/retro vibe that stands out from other releases". ''

¡Hola! ''¡Hola!'' is a weekly Spanish-language magazine specializing in celebrity news, published in Madrid, Spain, and in 15 other countries, with local editions in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru ...

'' staff wrote that Martin "takes us on a journey full of nostalgia and melancholy that can be felt not only for a person, but for a place or a memory" with "Otra Noche en L.A.". An author of

Monitor Latino Monitor Latino (stylised monitorLATINO) is a singles chart founded in 2003 which ranks songs on chart based on airplay across radio stations in Latin American countries and Hispanic radio stations in the United States using the Radio Tracking Data ...

labeled the song "a potentially great hit", saying it "has a sexy and seductive wake, showing us an addictive sound for the ear" and the vibes are "conceived with a melodic line that has many rhymes", while the lyrics "will undoubtedly catch you". Pip Ellwood-Hughes from ''Entertainment Focus'' called the track "catchy" and

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

staff wrote, "how much we needed a ballad" like this, that was released "in time".

Remezcla Remezcla is an American media company focusing on the Latin American cultural sphere. It serves the millennial market. History The brand was founded by Claire Frisbie, Andrew Herrera and Nuria Net in 2006, had no outside funding; it first recei ...

's Isabella Vega described it as "excitingly minimalistic" and introduced Martin "the legend himself".

Commercial performance

"Otra Noche en L.A." debuted and peaked at number 50 on the US

Latin Airplay Latin Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It was established on October 20, 2012. This chart lists the 50 most-played songs on Spanish-language radio stations across the country as monitored by Niel ...

chart on March 5, 2022, becoming Martin's 46th entry on the chart. The song also peaked at numbers 16 and 10 on ''Billboard''s

Latin Pop Airplay Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established b ...

and

Latin Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' Latin Digital Songs, or Latin Digital Song Sales, is a record chart that ranks the best-selling Spanish-language digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by ''Billboard''. It was ...

, respectively, giving Martin his 14th top-10 hit on the latter. It also extended Martin's own record as the artist with most top 20s on the US Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 52 songs. Besides the United States, "Otra Noche en L.A." reached number one in Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Uruguay, as well as the top 10 in Costa Rica and Mexico. It also peaked in the top 20 in Ecuador and Panama.

Music video

On December 19, 2021, Martin shared a photo of himself in a bathtub on Instagram, revealing that it would be for his next

. On January 10, 2022, he shared another bathtub photo, with the caption, "New song, new video, new moments. #soon". Ten days later, the singer released a trailer for the visual, depicting him walking in a bedroom, then walking out of frame to hug another person, that is seen on the shadows on the wall. The music video was released alongside the song on January 27, 2022. It was filmed at different locations in Los Angeles in two days, and directed by Costa Rican photographer and director Daniela Vesco, who made her debut as a director with directing the video. The visual shows Martin remembering his ex-lover, while lounging around a house, cooking, taking a shower and a bath, driving a car around Los Angeles, and carving in a bench, while looking through

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Hughes from Entertainment Focus described the music video as "steamy", and Remezcla's Vega gave it a positive review, saying it "perfectly captures the kind and nostalgic quality that the track has".

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *

vocal, composer, lyricist, associated performer * Luis Angel O'Neill Laureano "Oneil" composer, lyricist * Luís Miguel Gómez "Casta" composer, lyricist, producer * Juan Vargas composer, lyricist * Kevyn Cruz "Keityn" composer, lyricist, executive producer * Lenin Yorney Palacios "Lexuz" composer, lyricist, producer * Mayra del Valle A&R coordinator * Izzy De Jesús A&R director *

Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is a mix engineer and music producer who owns the revered Canton House Studios in Studio City, California. Joshua started his mix career in 2005 when he became partners with his mentor Dave Pensado and formed The Penua Project. Joshu ...

mastering engineer, mixing engineer * Sergio Robledo recording engineer *

Jean Rodríguez Jean Carlos Rodríguez López-Cepero (born December 10, 1980), also known as Jean, is a Puerto Rican singer, the younger brother of Luis Fonsi. Rodríguez has released a handful of solo albums and mixtapes, hitting number one on ''Billboard'' L ...

vocal producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Ricky Martin singles 2020s ballads 2022 songs 2022 singles Pop ballads Ricky Martin songs Rock ballads Songs about Los Angeles Songs about nostalgia Songs written by Ricky Martin Sony Music Latin singles Songs in Spanish