Música mexicana stars Grupo Frontera got used to making music on the road, out of necessity more than anything else. “We had to record a song literally onstage, before going out to a concert,” singer and bajo quinto player Adelaido “Payo” Solís III tells Apple Music, recalling having to hit various studios in whatever city they happening to be in when putting together what ultimately became their 2024 album JUGANDO A QUE NO PASA NADA. But when it came time to follow that one up, they opted instead to bring it all back home. “We decided to take a break from touring this year so we could focus a little more on the music,” Payo says of recording LO QUE ME FALTA POR LLORAR in a studio of their own in McAllen, Texas, mere minutes from where they got their start in Edinburg. Through this, they were able to slow things down and get to the core of what has made Grupo Frontera so compelling, even as they maintained the collaborative streak fans crave from them. “Obviously, we don’t like to leave our sound behind either, the cumbia, what we bring to give it our touch,” says bajo quinto player Alberto “Beto” Acosta. This comes through naturally on team-ups here with other elite artists operating in their chosen genre, such as Los Dareyes De La Sierra on “mi droga” and Tito Double P on “échame la mano”. Yet it also extends to their tracks with reggaetón hitmakers Ozuna and Myke Towers, who find their place in fusions both subtle and otherwise. “If the artist wants to have their essence, we have it there too,” accordionist Juan Javier Cantú says. “Cumbia magically enters with everything.” Though such prominent guests naturally raise the expectations here, on their own, Grupo Frontera prove as formidable a unit as ever before—possibly more so now that they’ve given themselves space to create. They offer honesty amid heartbreak on the deeply relatable and beautifully arranged “monterrey”, a quality that extends to other such highlights as “si me quiere” and “tranqui”. “We are where we are because of the fans,” Beto says. “God gave us this opportunity to be this high up.”