“People have tried to pit us against something that probably doesn’t even exist,” Ladrones guitarist and musical director José Macario tells Apple Music. “At our shows, we see every kind of listener—people who are into música mexicana, rap, or the heaviest metal. At the end of the day, what brings everyone together is the energy.” Since the beginning, much of the conversation surrounding Ladrones has centered on their ability to blur the lines between genres. Their fusion of corridos and metal immediately turned heads, but on Arriba La L, the band makes it clear that their identity extends far beyond that combination. “People don’t have to understand everything to enjoy it,” says Zxmyr. “The goal has always been to make music that connects through feeling.” With a much clearer vision of both their sound and the live experience they want to create, Zxmyr, José Macario, Cirujano, and Diego deliver an album where every song has its own identity. “We approached every track individually,” Macario explains. “The way people listen to music today is different, so we wanted the album to feel almost like a playlist, with every song having its own distinct color.” The result blends elements of math rock, shoegaze, and dembow with influences ranging from Juanes and Control Machete to Deftones, all filtered through Ladrones’ singular perspective. Here, they walk Apple Music through some of the album’s standout moments. “No Pido Y No Debo” José Macario: “We wrote the entire album during a songwriting camp at a cabin where we set up two studios. This song started with a progression I wrote because I wanted to make an aggressive corrido without worrying about limits or how people might react to it. We wanted to make a real corrido and bring that same intensity to the metal side of the song.” Zxmyr: “While I was writing the lyrics, someone told me the rhythm wasn’t right, but I decided to trust my instincts. For me, songwriting is all about following the feeling in the moment. The progression, the lyrics, and the flow all ended up fitting together perfectly.” “Esto De Estar Solo” Zxmyr: “It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. Everything started with a progression Moisa brought in, and the line ‘Nunca quise hacerte daño’ came almost immediately. Love and heartbreak songs have always come naturally to me, and this one came together really fast.” “Cali” Macario: “The song came together after we got back from one of our first tours in the US. Whenever we’re there, we spend time with José Mangin, our manager in the States, who always drives us around in a limousine that used to belong to Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell. A lot of the imagery in the song comes directly from those experiences.” Zxmyr: “There’s even a line that says, ‘Mangin blasting Pantera in the limo.’ It’s really about everything we’ve experienced over there.” “Ay Ay Ay” Macario: “We wrote it as a corrido first. We had the progression and the chorus, and while the guys were working on the lyrics, I focused on building the metal section. Later on, we added the breakdown, and that ended up giving the song even more impact.” Zxmyr: “I love the lyrics because they almost feel like a conversation with death. In Mexican culture, there’s a very unique relationship with death, and I wanted to capture that.” “No Que No” Macario: “This one started as an experiment. We thought it would just close the album, and we never imagined it would become a single. La Bruja en el Beat built the dembow foundation, and I wanted to combine it with more modern riffs and a few nods to Juanes. It ended up becoming the lowest-tuned song we’ve ever recorded, using a nine-string guitar. In the end, we fully committed to the idea and made it into a fun, unapologetic party track.”