From the moment I find myself talking to Argentinean-based singer BHAVI, I realize quickly that he is someone who doesn’t take life too seriously. As he sits at a restaurant, casually enjoying his lunch as we talk over Zoom, I learn that with his latest album, NO TE ENAMORES DE UN ARTISTA (DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH AN ARTIST), he didn’t set out to reinvent himself, the shift just happened. “It came organically,” he says of the contrast that this album presents to his previous releases. “The first album was very sensitive and feeling full and had a more with a spiritual take to it, a lot of love songs.” Then life intervened. “I broke up with my girl at that moment, and one of the last things I remember telling her was, ‘Don’t fall in love with an artist again.’”

That line stayed with him. “I remembered what I told her and I was like, ‘That’s the name. That’s it.’” What followed was a record shaped in constant motion, in a cycle of traveling, recording, engineering, building in real time. “It just was organic,” he says. “It just felt honest. And it just made sense.”

Rather than a clean break from the past, BHAVI sees this latest album as a counterbalance to his previous releases, that lean more into a spiritual and grounded place, as opposed to NO TE ENAMORES DE UN ARTISTA’S more frenetic and brash energy. “There’s no one without the other one,” he explains of the shift. “One is more like trap, rock and roll. And the other one is very sensitive and very spiritual.” Though, he finds that duality easy, because he finds that it shows off his own complexities. “We all have our moments in life for one thing or the other and and everything is okay.”

That dichotomy extends to the process itself. This time, BHAVI took control at every level. “This one was really in house,” he says. “I didn’t polish anything with this one. This one is completely me, directly to the to the mix and master.” The leap came with doubt, and confidence earned the hard way. “I thought it wasn’t going to sound that good,” he admits, before adding, “I’m actually a little like surprised in a good way.”

Though, even though he feels confident riding solo, he also loves collaboration. And on that front, NO TE ENAMORES DE UN ARTISTA  can want for nothing, as almost each track features a collaboration. “I’m not trying to compete with this other kid that’s in the song with me. I just want him to shine,” BHAVI says. “If he shines, I’m shining.” For him, bringing artists together is part instinct, part joy. “It’s like when Batman fights with Superman,” he says. “It’s just exciting.”

In an era obsessed with becoming the next viral thing of the moment, BHAVI keeps his focus longer-term. “TikTok is here, and then it’s not going to be here,” he says. “Songs are still here, right? Music is here for decades.” What matters more for him is endurance. “Maintaining is the important thing,” he explains. “Solid careers comes out of being a real cool, consistent artist.”

When asked what he hopes listeners take away, BHAVI points to the person behind the music. “People, what people like of BHAVI, is that I’m myself,” he says. “I’m original, and I’m myself.” That honesty, passed down from his biggest critic and biggest fan, is what grounds everything else. “If you’re still always yourself, you’re always yourself,” he says. “And what is better than that?”

NO TE ENAMORES DE UN ARTISTA is streaming now.