An after-hours glimpse at the música mexicana stars. Operating at the top of their game, música mexicana stars Eslabon Armado seem only to grow in stature with each subsequent new project. Continuing what appears to be a steady annual pace of album releases, NOCTURNO leans into areas where lead singer Pedro Tovar traditionally excels. His after-dark musings and late-night concerns blur together across these 16 tracks, beginning with the illicit love affair goings-on of “OJOS DE DIABLA.” The temptations laid out in that song’s seductive narrative find a somewhat devastating counterpoint mere minutes later, when Peso Pluma joins in for the less rosy reality check of “AMIGOS CON DERECHOS.” Rendezvous and escapades on cuts like “SAFAERA” with Jorsshh continue this haphazardly lustful streak, even as the threat of romantic tragedy lurks in the shadows nearby. Calling back to the group’s emotional 2020 breakout effort, “CORTA VENAS” settles reliably deep into the depths of heartbreak. The same occurs on the sorrowful pair “MORIR TRES VECES” with Tombochio and “NUNCA EH LLORADO,” as well as the viscerally embittered “CON LICOR.” Hope nonetheless permeates the darkness on “CARMEN,” and love shows strong signs of prevailing on “K,” Tovar vacillating between cautious optimism and head-over-heels amorousness. With a fairly robust guest list consisting of notable genre names, NOCTURNO contains bright spots even when the themes turn towards bleakness. Gabito Ballesteros shares a stubborn inability to let go of the past on the incessantly probing “X TI,” while ERRE sticks to a demonstrably sentimental mindset on the lushly arranged “OJITOS PERSAS.”