POP-ROCK EN ESPANOL: "En Paz" Cecilia Villar Eljuri (Manovill) This Ecuadorean-born, New York City-raised singer has played in several area rock bands, but now debuts with an album of Spanish-language pop-oriented rock.

She opens the album with the balmy reggae "El Aire" with Jamaica's famous Sly and Robbie rhythm section. Despite the occasional fuzz-toned guitar, Eljuri's honeyed voice keeps the synthed-up sound from getting hard-edged. On "Como En Un Sueno" she updates a 1966 Ecuadorean pasillo written by her mother, composer Olga Eljuri de Villar.

"Peligrosa" evokes Santana's Latin-rock, adding South American rhythms under its North American rock patina. Eljuri's accessible, vibrant debut sounds like the young woman will be moving beyond local clubs.

Download this: "Ayer"
-- Marty Lipp

Also in stores: "Here I Stand," Usher (Jive); "Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific: New Broadway Cast," Various Artists (Sony Broadway); "Same Old Man," John Hiatt (New West); "Bring Ya to the Brink," Cyndi Lauper (Epic); "Don't Do Anything," Sam Phillips (Nonesuch); "Live from Chicago," Steve Miller Band (Koch DVD); "With Roots & Wings," Angel Band (Appleseed)