Bogotá, Colombia · latin pop · pop rock

Morat

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Colombian four-piece who put actual guitars back into Latin pop and became arena-sized doing it — folk-pop harmonies at stadium volume.

Morat is a four-piece band from Bogotá, Colombia, formed by Juan Pablo Isaza, Juan Pablo Villamil and brothers Simón and Martín Vargas, who had known each other since they were five years old. An early lineup also included drummer Alejandro Posada, who left in 2016 and was replaced by Martín Vargas.

The band was originally called Malta before settling on Morat, a name drawn from a relative's surname and from La Morat, the venue where they first played together. They emerged in the mid-2010s at a point when Latin pop was dominated by programmed rhythms, and made a point of working with guitars, banjo and layered vocal harmonies instead, closer to folk-pop and pop-rock than reggaetón, citing influences ranging from Joaquín Sabina to Coldplay.

Their profile grew quickly through singles including 'Mi Nuevo Vicio' with Paulina Rubio, which reached number one in Spain, and 'Cómo Te Atreves,' which topped iTunes charts. Both featured on their 2016 debut album, Sobre el amor y sus efectos secundarios, which reached number one in Colombia, Mexico and Spain and earned a Latin Grammy nomination.

A 2017 collaboration with Álvaro Soler, 'Yo Contigo, Tú Conmigo,' became the theme song for Despicable Me 3 and won Song of the Year at the LOS40 Music Awards. Their second album, Balas Perdidas, followed in 2018, led by the number-one single 'Cuando Nadie Ve.' They have since worked with artists such as Sebastián Yatra and play large venues across Latin America and Spain.

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latin poppop rock