"Who would have thought that Manu Chao would succeed in going one better after his outstanding debut from 1998? Not me -- and I was proven wrong when Proxima Estacion: Esperanza (Next Station: Hope) was not even three tracks old in my CD player! At 40, the son of Spanish emigrants sounds younger, fresher and more playful than some half his age.

Thus, the album is simply fun from the first to the last second. Reggae, South American folk and a pinch of Rai are the spices, danceable good mood music the basis.

Winking, the master quotes himself often enough, but only to create something new out of old elements. The linguistic diversity of the cosmopolitan extends to six languages. In addition to French, Spanish and English, there are now also texts in Portuguese, Arabic and Portunol, a Spanish-Portuguese hybrid, spoken in corresponding border areas."