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Cuban-American pop temptress Sasha Prendes returns with her most engaging sound yet in the new single “Shake This,” which features a gripping meld of hip-hop beats, Latinx R&B rhythm, and pop prowess. Prendes has been raising her profile in the industry as well as the eyebrows of critics a lot lately, and just one listen to “Shake This” will give you a pretty good idea as to why. She’s got the spunk of a contemporary pop singer and the smooth delivery of a more erudite player from someone on the hobby end of the industry, and while she’s still growing into her own as a solo artist, this is undeniably some of her best stuff yet.
The vocal track is the star of the show in “Shake This,” and no other element within the song even comes close to eclipsing its presence in the grander scheme of things. The synths, the percussion, even that enormous bassline that shadows every move that Prendes makes in this single – it’s all built around the skillful singing that she executes from behind the microphone. Thanks to the top-shelf production quality that she went with in the studio, there isn’t a stitch of her sonic serenade left muffled by the master mix.
Lyrically, “Shake This” is a lot warmer and embracive of enigmatic themes than previously released material that we’ve heard in her scene. She’s been coming into her own as a songwriter in the last year, and here she seems completely comfortable with the prose and the pace in which she’s able to distribute her melodic drawl. Nothing sounds rushed, but then again, nothing is dragging, either. It’s a well-balanced song compositionally, and Prendes was wise to approach it with the same level of patience that went into crafting it into pop perfection. I can see where hip-hop fans, in particular, would be inclined to gravitate toward these slick beats, but to be frank, anyone who loves a sweet groove could dig on this song.
One thing that I really wouldn’t change about this track is the role of the bass. It’s rife with textured expression, and the fortunate thing is that it’s not as loud in the mix as some would have preferred it to be. This doesn’t stop the bassline from imparting an emotionality on the percussive parts in the song that wouldn’t be there otherwise, and in general, I think that a song with as much of a club/ambient hybridity as “Shake This” has is best outfitted with a low-end depth that matches the intensity of its vocal as well as this one does.
She’s been making a lot of waves and stirring up buzz lately, and there’s no question that Sasha Prendes’ “Shake This” is a superb addition to the already exciting catalog of indie hits that has been our summer 2023 soundtrack. There’s plenty of stylistic ground left for her to cover, but I think that based on the current trajectory that her career is on, it shouldn’t be too much longer before Prendes’ work starts to get the attention from mainstream critics and press that she’s devoted so much of her time to attaining.
Jennifer Munoz
