Chart greets "Adios" by Mexican group Intocable

By Ayala Ben-Yehuda

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Intocable's "Tu Adios No Mata" debuted this past week at No. 1 on Billboard's Regional Mexican Airplay chart, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Los Tigres del Norte's "Lagrimas" debuted in the top spot in 1999.

Intocable's two-year absence from the recording studio may have created a pent-up demand among radio listeners for the group's signature mix of norteno with rock and country touches.

Lead singer Ricky Munoz says Intocable's "2C" album, due June 10 on EMI Televisa, contains "futuristic" elements -- but unlike the strong country feel of Intocable's last album, this one "retakes a little more of the style we started."

"Tu Adios No Mata," by composer Oswaldo Villarreal, reached the band as a demo with nothing more than piano behind it. Munoz and bandmate Rene Martinez co-produced the album, creating arrangements as they recorded in the studio. The single starts with a pop-rock intro, then kicks in with the accordion; at the end of the song, it returns to a spare, modern arrangement.

"You could say all the music we listen to is in that song," Munoz says, citing '80s rock by Van Halen and Def Leppard as influences that are just as important to the group as the music of norteno legend Ramon Ayala.

Starting in June, Intocable will headline a nationwide tour of about 40 shows, with duranguense group Los Horoscopos de Durango and soloist El Gringo on the bill.

Reuters/Billboard