“Tocarte. Tocarte. Tocarte. Tocarte.” The word, which translates from Spanish to “touch you,” is repeated again and again over a pulsing, syncopated beat on Jorge Drexler’s song of the same name, the fourth track on his 2022 album, Tinta y Tiempo. “I want to lick the salt you bring from the beach,” Drexler sings, softly and sensually. “I want the whole neighborhood to know about our obsession.” It’s perhaps surprising—though, on second thought, entirely unsurprising—that the song was written during the pandemic, at a time when the sort of touching Drexler is referring to was highly discouraged. Tinta y Tiempo (ink and time) is the 15th album in the Uruguayan artist’s 30-year career (which notably included an Academy Award for “Al Otro Lado del Río,” written for The Motorcycle Diaries)—but it’s his first pandemic-era album. Forced isolation pulled many musicians toward themes of loneliness and existential dread. Drexler’s pendulum swung in the opposite direction: His latest album overflows with uncompromised love songs. He declares that love is the master plan on “El Plan Maestro.” Two lonely hearts find each other on “Corazón Impar.” On “Duermevela,” every half-sleep smells like his lover. As we’ve cautiously begun to leave behind the six-feet-apart mentality, Drexler’s music is ready to pull us into a warm embrace. Jorge Drexler plays at 8 p.m. on Nov. 11 at the Lincoln Theatre in Northwest. thelincolndc.com. $45.
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