Buscabulla, the musical duo of Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle—partners in both music and life—creates a dreamy, textured pop sound blending electronic beats with Latin rhythms and lyrics rich in Puerto Rican slang. Their music transports listeners across time, blurring the lines between past, present, and future, fantasy and reality. This is especially true of their latest album, Se Amaba Así, where 12 tracks weave a poignant story of love and heartbreak.

The first two singles, “Camino” and “Miraverahi,” set the tone—Berrios sings of wandering lost in darkness as the sun sets, then asks her partner, “Think about it and let me know how you’ll do if I leave and never return.” Given their long-term relationship (they share a child) and the album’s pre-release “moodboard” on Instagram—filled with old salsa and pop songs about all-consuming love (what Puerto Ricans call corta venas)—I assumed it was a concept album, a musical telenovela.

But when I mentioned this during our meeting at their Brooklyn label, del Valle corrected me: “It’s actually the opposite. This is the most personal work we’ve ever made. We’re talking about our relationship—the struggles, the love, parenting, friendship.”

Berrios added, “It’s interesting you saw it that way. There is a narrative, but we wanted it to feel cinematic, with a touch of fantasy. Still, it’s rooted in our real lives.” Their honesty reshaped my understanding of the album. While musical couples exploring their relationships isn’t new, their raw vulnerability hits differently.

This isn’t their first time drawing from personal experience. Their 2020 debut album, Regresa, chronicled their move back to Puerto Rico after years in New York (where they met a decade earlier). Released at the pandemic’s peak, what should’ve been a celebratory moment became a challenge. “Releasing then was wild,” Berrios recalls. “It felt like a return to community, but professionally, it was tough.” Unable to tour, they got creative—like filming NPR’s Tiny Desk from their car on an Aguadilla beach while their band played remotely. They finally toured in late 2021 and returned to the studio the next spring, unsure of their direction. “We had no momentum,” Berrios admits—“then Bad Bunny called.”

The Puerto Rican superstar invited them to collaborate on “Andrea,” a standout track from his record-breaking 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti. “It was reaffirming,” Berrios says. “After putting out music for years, having someone say, ‘I want the world to know you’—it was like a wake-up call. We realized: Keep going, it’ll be okay.”

When they returned to the studio in 2024, they didn’t plan to write so openly about their relationship. “There was a…When Raquel told me, “I think this record should be about us,” I was hesitant at first because that’s never been the band’s approach,” says del Valle. “But those were the songs Raquel was writing.” As Berrios continued writing, they realized his perspective was also needed to balance the album’s narrative. “She really pushed me,” del Valle admits.

The result was two bolero-inspired ballads: “El Empuje,” where he urges his lover to hold on against life’s pressures before admitting he might be the one who can’t hold on anymore, and “Mortal,” where he sings, “I’m not made of iron, I’m a mortal man,” over a lush ’80s-style guitar solo. They wrote with honesty and care, knowing how personal the material was. “It wasn’t easy—like any record, but it felt like couples therapy,” Berrios says. “We laid everything out, then edited: ‘Not this, not this…'”

Honesty became a central theme of the album. The title track, “Se Amaba Así” (“That’s How We Used to Love”), sits at the heart of the record and serves as its emotional climax. “The song is from my perspective but also reflects my parents’ love—how I saw them, and how I love too,” Berrios explains. (Her father passed away before recording, and his musical influence lingered throughout the process.) She sings: “He was a rock, she was paper, always turning away… one day she left, and he stayed. I don’t know why I didn’t cry—I guess I just got used to it and thought that’s how you loved.” Del Valle harmonizes in the chorus, while their daughter improvises the haunting outro melodies. “It’s cathartic,” Berrios says. “The album starts with complaints, but here, everything clicks into place.”

The album’s emotional depth is matched by its lush sound. “We wanted more gravity—violins, Spanish guitars, things we’d never tried before,” del Valle says. These blend with their signature synths and electronic beats, inspired by Spanish icons like Mecano. “It’s maximalist, dramatic—like a telenovela,” he adds. “We thought about trio music, ’90s power ballads by Cristian Castro and Luis Miguel—that raw passion. People used to love so freely, but that’s been lost.” Buscabulla is here to bring it back. Welcome to the summer of feeling deeply.

Buscabulla’s Se Amaba Así is out now.
Photo courtesy of Domino Recording Company