They are back; Mandinga, who became popular when they represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with “Zaleilah”, have just released a new music video. “Besame” is their official second original single since the band introduced a new vocalist, Barbara Isasi.
Released on the Cat Music YouTube Channel, the main player in the Romanian music industry; “Besame” brings some Spanish salsa to the table. The song was written by Perozo Yustiz Carlos Enrique, Stoica Mario Roberto, Isasi Salas Barbara, and Himely Benavides Alexander; whilst the music video was directed by Alex Ceausu.
Watch Mandinga’s Music Video For New Single “Besame” Here:
Dropped yesterday, this music video is both performance based and narrative based. We watch a young couple go about their day together, with plenty of cute moments. The coconut scene is adorable.
Intercutting scenes are shown of Barbara Isasi singing the song on the beach. Halfway through, the rest of Mandinga join her as a male vocalist from the group adds a fresh R&B vibe to the track, whilst still presenting a salsa Spanish theme. His vocals are on form, much like Barbara Isasi, but he makes more of an impact during the visual because his hair is on point.
The song takes it back to the tropical salsa sound that Mandinga first previewed with their first few albums. The line-up has changed a few times, with the lead vocalist attempting a solo career.
First off Elena Gheorghe left the group after the band released their first two albums, which were latino based; they also came fourth in the Romanian national selection to Eurovision in 2005. Elena Gheorghe later represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with “The Balkan Girls” and came 19th.
Three years later, Mandinga, with new vocalist Elena Ionescu, represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, and came 12th, other singles followed before, she too, left the group to start up her own solo career.
Now Mandinga has Barbara Isasi as their vocalist, she was in the sixth series of Vocea României (The Voice of Romania), where she got as far as the knockout rounds. Now she’s a part of Mandinga and they are totally going back to their roots. We’ve seen them release salsa versions of Adele’s “Hello” and Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez’s “We Don’t Talk Anymore”.
Watch Mandinga’s Salsa Versions Of “Hello” And “We Don’t Talk Anymore” Here:
This sure is setting Mandinga down a new path that we can’t wait to follow them down. This music is exactly what we need in our lives, and we are loving the direction Mandinga is going.