Divino Niño

The restlessly shape-shifting Chicago outfit Divino Niño first blended indie pop with '50s-inspired melodies, sunlit surf numbers, and tender ballads. Foam, arriving in 2019, marked their arrival at a cohesive, softly melodic style that merged gentle psychedelia with trippy chillwave. Turning toward their Latin roots on 2022’s Last Spa on Earth, they crafted a luminous, eccentric survey of Latin pop that stretched from reggaeton through trap.

Guitarist and vocalist Camilo Medina joined forces with bassist Javier Forero to launch the group; the pair had grown up together in Bogotá, Colombia, before their families relocated to Miami and the two later converged again in Chicago. There they recruited guitarist Guillermo Rodriguez and drummer Pierce Codina, shaping a relaxed, low-key aesthetic that fuses dreamy '50s balladry, dream pop, and chillwave while alternating between English and Spanish vocals. Their debut, Pool Jealousy, surfaced on the Native Sound label in 2014 and mixed woozy ballads with tracks carrying a soft psychedelic sheen. The follow-up, The Shady Sexyfornia Tapes, was tracked at home in 2016; most songs clock in under two minutes and feel markedly pared-back beside the first release.

After performing across Chicago and farther afield, the quartet prepared a third album. Once more working inside Medina’s apartment, they enlisted Grapetooth’s Justin Vittori on Wurlitzer and percussion, slide guitarist Luke Henry, Chicago musician Paul Cherry, and Twin Peaks’ Andrew Humphrey, who helped Medina and Forero finalize the mix. Winspear issued Foam in mid-2019. While touring, the band began stretching tempos to generate more danceable grooves, an urge that, alongside fresh encounters with contemporary Latin pop, propelled their next project. Pandemic isolation further steered the process, pushing the members toward programmed beats and computer experimentation rather than live rehearsals. The resulting Last Spa on Earth appeared on Winspear in late 2022 as a jubilant, indie-pop-free immersion in reggaeton, cumbia, champeta, and urbano.