Enrique Iglesias He’s back with a new album and it’s worth the wait. by David Jenison

“Some of the songs have a little hip-hop element to them. But that’s the thing—this album has a little of everything.”

“Emotionally, this album gave me anxiety,” admits Enrique Iglesias, discussing his long-awaited new release, Insomniac. “It’s the most difficult album I’ve ever done, and I say ‘difficult’ because it was so time consuming and so much work.”

The singer’s anxiety stemmed from the hours and effort invested in Insomniac, which starkly contrasts with the previous pace at which he released music. Between 1997 and 2003, Iglesias put out six albums. He only took one year off, 2000, which preceded his bestselling album ever, Escape. The singer’s last release was 2003’s Seven, which means he spent over three years making Insomniac.

“That was the difficult part for me,” Iglesias continues. “Having the patience to wait and having the patience to keep on going and having the patience not to give up. I really had to calm myself down and say, ‘You’re gonna have to wait two more years for me to make sure I’m 100 percent convinced that this album is ready to go, and I’ll wait two more years, three more years, four more years, five more years, it doesn’t matter.’ But that gave me anxiety at times. It was very, very difficult.”

Nevertheless, Iglesias remained disciplined and created an album that clearly makes him beam. He repeatedly remarks, “I’m not saying this is my best album.” But such comments merely reflect a desire to avoid the same old platitudes that artists too often speak. It’s undeniable, though, that Insomniac is Iglesias’ proudest work.

“You know what I really like?” Iglesias offers. “You write songs, and sometimes you say, ‘Okay, this is the one.’ On this album, I felt that a bunch of times—not that I felt it more or less in prior albums—but I just felt I had so much time that the 12 songs I picked all have a magical moment in them. I know that sounds cliché, but I really feel that way.”

In terms of representing these moments to the general music, Insomniac leads at radio with “Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song).” This timeless, mid-tempo pop tune features strong melodies, clever vocal hooks and even a ping pong sample. While ping pong is a great metaphor for relationships, Iglesias didn’t realize it until after he finished the song.

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