Inside Arthur Hanlon’s ‘2 Manos, 1 Mundo’ Album

Arthur Hanlon presents his new EP, 2 Manos, 1 Mundo (“two hands, one world”), out Friday (April 11) via Sony Music Latin.

On the seven-track production, which follows his highly praised Piano y Mujer series, the Detroit-born pianist teamed up with nine of his friends — Ana Bárbara, Ángela Aguilar, Carlos Vives, Darell, Goyo, Manuel Medrano, Nia Skyfer, Tiago Ior and Yotuel — for an “ethereal and dreamy” production (as he describes it) that fuses worldly beats such as Brazil’s bossanova, Cuba’s cha-cha-cha and Colombia’s vallenato with his distinctive piano melodies.

“It was a good moment to go back and write,” Hanlon tells Billboard, whose last two albums featured cover songs interpreted by artists such as Ivy Queen, Ha*Ash, Kany García, Natalia Jimenez, Evaluna Montaner and more. “This is a musical manifestation of the friends that I’ve made from different parts of the world.”

Crafted in his Miami-based home with the royal blue piano in his living room, Hanlon says his creative process always begins at home with friends, because he’s the type of artist who “likes to cook.” “This project is so personal,” he emphasizes. “It’s me connecting with the artists. If there’s no chemistry, no connection, it’s hard for me to collaborate.”

Below, Hanlon breaks down some of the tracks on 2 Manos, 1 Mundo, which also includes a solo piano cover of Santana’s smooth hit “Europa.”

On “Bala Perdida” featuring Ángela Aguilar: “We wrote the song and got together with Ángela. I’m always looking for magic. And I knew that with this song and with Angela, by placing the piano in the desert, we would create a contrast between the music and the natural environment. That’s how this song was born.”

Hanlon and Aguilar premiered “Bala Perdida” at the 2025 Premio Lo Nuestro awards.

On “Repetimos” featuring Yotuel & Darell: “‘Repetimos’ was the first song I did for the album. Yotuel asked for a cha-cha-cha but to make it funky. I thought, how can we make it a Cuban-meets-Detroit sound? We needed that crunch on the song, so we called Darell.”

“Repetimos” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart last October.

On “Goodbye” with Carlos Vives & Goyo: “Carlos went to my house, we were drinking gin and tonic, and thinking of how interesting it would be if the Magdalena Rivera and Mississippi River connected. That’s how this song was born. We filmed the video in the streets of Bogota. We walked two nights around the streets to get the good vibes from the nightlife and that bluesy feel.”