Monsieur Periné wants you to love “Mucho con Demasiao” ahead of their upcoming album

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and Monsieur Periné has the perfect song to bring some love into your life and the world around us. The Colombian group led by Catalina García and Santiago Prieto’s latest single, “MUCHO CON DEMASIAO” featuring Cali-based Afrobeat artist Jossman, has a clear message: love without limits. The track is catchy, intimate, and euphoric, rooted deeply in Colombian culture while opening a new chapter for the band as they head toward their upcoming album, set for release this spring in April.

The collaboration, as García tells it, was years in the making. “I’ve been a huge fan of his music for a long time,” she told HOLA!, describing her obsession with Jossman’s track Todita. “I love the vibe that he brings to Afrobeat—it has a different flavor, a different energy. You can feel his traditions from the Pacific coast of Colombia.”

That admiration eventually turned into a real connection when Jossman reached out directly. “He messaged me on Instagram saying he wanted us on his album,” García recalls. “And I was like, no—hold on. We need to make music together.”

That moment arrived in 2024, during a trip to Petronio Álvarez, one of Colombia’s most important music festivals celebrating Afro-Colombian traditions. “It’s like Africa in Colombia,” she says. “One of the most important celebrations of African-rooted culture in the Americas.”

From there, the collaboration unfolded almost effortlessly. The group gathered at Jossman’s studio near Cali, where she was born and raised, letting the environment guide the music. “Everything felt meant to be,” Garcia explains. “It was fun, easy, and very true.” Prieto agrees that the process was instinctive rather than forced. “We just started putting together beats and guitar chords,” he says. “It happened without much effort, it was very natural.”

He said the track continued to evolve back in Bogotá, where the band added marimba and chonta, signature instruments from Colombia’s Pacific coast, layering tradition into the song’s modern groove. Puerto Rican producer Fux Beat, who is also working on the upcoming album, helped shape the final version. “That’s why the song feels joyful,” Prieto adds. “It came from a place of ease.”

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At its core, “MUCHO CON DEMASIAO” draws from a distinctly Colombian way of expressing affection – one that embraces exaggeration as sincerity. “In Colombia, we don’t say love halfway,” Garcia explains. “We exaggerate. Mucho con demasiado is when something is at the very top of everything. Loving a little is not enough.”

That message feels especially poignant now, even as the song arrives around Valentine’s Day – a holiday that, in Colombia, is celebrated very differently. “There, it’s called El Día del Amor y la Amistad,” Garcias says. “It’s about love and friendship. Because love is everything.”

While she acknowledges the holiday’s commercial side, she’s more interested in love as a life force. “Love is the energy of being alive,” she says. “If you’re not in love with what you’re doing, with what you’re giving, it’s hard to be alive.”

For the singer, the fear of love is one of the biggest challenges of modern life. “People are scared of loving, of commitment, of responsibility,” she says. “But when you fear love, you’re losing your power.” Her message is simple, but uncompromising: “It has to be mucho con demasiado. If it’s not all in, then it isn’t.”

When asked what a love letter to the world might sound like right now, García doesn’t hesitate: “Poquito más poquito es mucho, y mucho nunca es demasiado. Don’t fear love.”

Prieto echoes the sentiment, citing Bad Bunny’s billboard he had during the Super Bowl that read  “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Love is the way to cope with the things that are happening now in the world,” the multi-instrumentalist explained. 

That same philosophy also shapes the band’s upcoming album. When asked what fans can expect and what felt different this time around, García became emotional, describing the record as something far more personal than a typical release. “I think a lot of ways to heal, to be honest,” she said. “To enjoy, to change your mood, to celebrate that we are alive. To feel—like a space where you feel connected to your heart.”

For García, the album became a journey inward. “It was my trip,” she explained. “Making music for me. Experimenting with this connection with myself.”

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She spoke candidly about moving through chaos, uncertainty, and darker emotional spaces, and how music became a lifeline. “Going through the wild, going to the dark side, and feeling like I had a lifesaver,” she said. “Like, okay, I can go through this because I can make music. Music and songs are like my instructions for happiness,” she shared.

She paused to explain the distinction that exists in Spanish between estar feliz—feeling happy—and ser feliz—being happy. “Ser is different,” she said. “It’s not just feeling happy. It’s a journey. It has different shades.”

That journey, she emphasized, isn’t always easy. “Of course it’s bitter, and sour, and hard sometimes,” she said. “But it’s worth it. When it’s hard, you’re going through this journey to understand and create your own happiness.” García doesn’t shy away from the weight of the world either. “This world is so sick,” she said. “And sometimes we choose to put on these gray glasses and experience reality through that hardness, because it is hard.”

But the album isn’t about avoiding darkness. It’s about reframing it. “We can change our perception of the dark side,” she explained. “We can move through it with an open heart, expressing our vulnerabilities and building ourselves again.”

She spoke about forgiveness, letting go, and release—about recognizing sadness, anger, and frustration as inseparable from being human. “They exist so we can poetically rebuild ourselves,” she said. “Beautiful. Gentle. Not seeing them through their destructive force, but as a way to keep growing.”

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For García, the album rejects the glossy, marketable version of happiness that’s often sold to us. “This isn’t about forcing happiness,” she said. “Honestly, just having the chance to be alive is already something.” She continued, “Life can be extremely hard, especially when there are no resources, no food, no water, no freedom. It’s hard every day. Sometimes it’s even hard to look at yourself in the mirror.”

What ultimately anchors the album, she explained, is collectivity. “Being conscious means coming together,” García said. “Creating something collective. We’re all part of history, walking these paths together.”

Santiago describes the project as both experimental and joyful. “I think it’s a very fun album. It has very nice, beautiful songs,” he explained. “I think it’s very experimental also. It’s a new sound for us, a new way of producing music, and I think the result is very cool. And I think it’s going to be very fun also to play it live.” While he shared that not all of the songs are joyful, he said the whole vibe of the album is “designed to feel good after you hear it.”