EP Review: Cinco Canciones En Español – The Laurie Berkner Band

Let me start with this: my Spanish is extremely limited. I can confidently say hola and gracias, but beyond that, things get pretty shaky. So when I was given an early listen to The Laurie Berkner Band's forthcoming all-Spanish EP, Cinco Canciones En Español, featuring Spanish-language versions of some of her best-known songs, I was both intrigued and slightly intimidated. How do you review music when you can’t connect with the lyrics? As it turns out, it’s not that difficult, you just have to listen differently.

Within the first song, it became clear that what makes this music work goes well beyond language. Her voice is still warm, playful, and unmistakably inviting. You can hear the energy shift between tracks. The bouncy ones practically demand movement, while the gentler ones feel designed for winding down. Even without understanding the words, the emotional cues are clear. Tempo, repetition, and vocal inflection do much of the heavy lifting. Certain phrases recur often enough that you begin to recognise them by sound alone, even if you couldn’t define them.

What impressed me most about this EP is that it doesn't feel like a side project or novelty release. The Spanish flows naturally within the melodies. Nothing sounds awkward or forced. The songs feel intentional and thoughtfully produced. For families unfamiliar with Spanish, the EP works as a gentle introduction, exposure without pressure, where the listening experience feels less like a lesson and more like an emotional journey.

They say that when one sense is diminished, the others become more pronounced. Similarly, not understanding the lyrics forced me to pay closer attention to the music itself, and there’s a lot to appreciate here. 'Esperando El Elevador' (Waiting for the Elevator) features vibrant acoustic guitar and a clear, expressive vocal that sets the tone for the EP in fine style. It’s incredibly catchy and brilliantly executed, with delightful children's backing vocals chiming in along the way. 'Mi Conejito Brinca' (My Bunny Goes Hop) is upbeat, lively, and bursting with energy, offering plenty of opportunities to join in with the animal actions, encouraging active participation throughout. I'm sure it would be a huge hit both at home and in the classroom.

'A-B-C En Español' (The Spanish Alphabet Song) ensures that learning the alphabet can be both engaging and fun, with a very effective call-and-response vocal working alongside some tasteful acoustic guitar and piano throughout. 'Somos Los Dinosaurios' (We Are the Dinosaurs), one of Berkner’s most recognisable songs, is reimagined here in Spanish, with all its stomping rhythms and clever use of dynamics intact. The EP finishes with 'Escucha Los Sonidos' (Listen to the Sounds), a gentle ballad that gives the listener space to exhale and unwind. The track drifts on waves of melody, tugging at the heartstrings as it softly serenades. Yet there's an undercurrent of quiet uplift, so much so that by its close, even the birds get to join in.

So, did I suddenly become fluent after five songs? Of course not. However, I did connect with the warmth and joy contained here, and that’s what truly great children’s music does: it communicates beyond vocabulary. This EP proves that you don't have to understand every word to feel something deeply. The Laurie Berkner Band has once again raised the bar, doing so with confidence and craft, allowing cultural barriers to fade into the background while the music takes centre stage. The EP will be available everywhere on March 20.

The Laurie Berkner Band – no translation required.