Agua Del Pozo (Caracol): A-
Just in time for summer, here’s an intoxicating Cuban album that doesn’t owe much to the Buena Vista Social club or the island’s frenzied timba scene. Instead, Cuban-born Canadian singer/guitarist Alex Cuba (nee Alexis Puentes) draws on the sound of singer-songwriters from Stevie Wonder to Manu Chao to fashion a mostly languid, guitar-propelled sound. Sung in Spanish, it’s unabashedly pop-smart, thoroughly tropical and wouldn’t sound out of place on a playlist with Milton Nascimento or Gilberto Gil. Download: “Muevete.” (Appearing Wednesday at the Regattabar, Cambridge.)