“Magica Bonita” is a track from France-based Afro-Latin group The Bongo Hop. It’s lifted from their upcoming fourth album La Pata Coja, which translates to ‘the gammy leg’. This song features Brazilian electro-acoustic pioneer and singer Lucas Santtana and presents a blend of Brazilian pop music of the 1970s with street drums and a Colombian chirimia carnival rhythm.

Etienne Sevet formed the Bongo Hop after he returned home to France from Colombia, where he worked as a DJ, music journalist, and trumpeter for eight years. Sevet is a self-taught trumpeter with no formal training, and his music career blossomed after his fated homecoming. The Bongo Hop is named after an old comic book that Etienne used to read as a kid.

Both on record and on stage, The Bongo Hop is akin to a tropical cyclone embellished and energised with brass, afro grooves, electric sounds, and heavenly vocals. This ensemble integrates beats, styles, and voices into familiar yet surprisingly new music. The forthcoming album (out on Friday) showcases a spectrum of musical talents, from Colombia’s Nidia Gongora to Haiti’s own Kephny Eliacin and Moonlight Benjamin, among others.

“Magica Bonita” is literally beautiful magic, kicks off with a syncopated guitar riff over a shaker groove and piano vamp. Santtana’s voice soon joins the mix along with the whole ensemble. Apart from the sustained and articulated vocal work, the interplay of trumpet and guitar on this track is one of the key elements. Funky guitar and orchestra-like trumpet complement each other’s melodies with occasional mirroring here and there. What holds all these together is the tight rhythm section on percussion and bass.

Afro-Latin-infused percussion drives the energy of this track with immaculate precision and deep and heavy bass lines. All the elements of The Bongo Hop that are characteristic only to them are palpable in “Magica Bonita.”