A new Selena song revives old arguments over legacy, control

A new Selena song, masterminded by her family, revives arguments over legacy and exploitation

July 29, 2022 3:03 PM PT

Nearly three decades after her death, Tejano superstar Selena is making her comeback this summer.

In collaboration with the family of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, Warner Music Latina has released a new track from the singer. An orchestral mariachi ballad titled “Como Te Quiero Yo a Ti,” or “How I Love You,” it is the first single off of an upcoming album, “Moonchild Mixes.”

Executive produced by Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the album will feature new songs with never-before-heard vocal tracks by Selena, which she recorded when she was between the ages of 13 and 16 years old.

Her brother, Grammy-winning producer and songwriter A.B. Quintanilla, used computer technology to alter Selena’s vocals so that they match her tone in songs she recorded as an adult.

Selena was murdered by a fan in 1995, at the age of 23.

“What’s unique about it is that not only is the music completely new arrangements, but my son worked on Selena’s voice with the computers and if you listen to her, she sounds on this recording like she did right before she passed away,” Selena’s father told Jose Rosario, host of “Latin Groove News,” in a March interview.

The Quintanillas released their last original Selena track in 2015, a lost demo from early 1995 titled “Oh No (I’ll Never Fall in Love Again).”

Quintanilla said he dropped the previous track at the behest of Selena’s fans. Yet some fans have recently expressed reservations over the new releases, as they did with the 2020 Netflix serial drama “Selena: The Series.”

Even if computerized, the newly fashioned “Como Te Quiero Yo a Ti” accurately, if spookily, showcases Selena’s storied eleganza. It was written by Ricky Vela, the original keyboardist of Selena y Los Dinos, who performed with the band from 1984 until 1995. Vela wrote a number of smash hits for the singer, including “Fotos y Recuerdos” and “No Me Queda Mas.”

“Moonchild Mixes” is scheduled for release on Aug. 26.