Listen to this new version of Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe's classic 'La Murga de Panamá', sang by a woman

"This song is part of our patrimony as Latinos, Colombians, salseros. It's not just any song, it's an hymn," says Juancho Valencia, bandleader for Puerto Candelaria about the 1970 Fania classic 'La Murga de Panamá' by Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe. The Medellín tropical band had the heady task of creating a new version of the song, especially commissioned by the Fania label, who was looking for a modern yet respectful take on 'La Murga'.

Puerto Candelaria's singer Maga la Maga brings the powerful feminine voice to the Lavoe original. Maga also stars in the music video as more than a pretty girl: "She's hard-working, independent, strong and wins people's hearts with her charisma," says Valencia, who also directed the video. "In a subtle way, we're always breaking Latino stereotypes to show another Latin America."

Even though it comes from a classic salsa label and originally written and performed by two salsa heavyweights, 'La Murga de Panamá' is not actually a salsa; it comes from traditional Panamanian folk called 'murga' (a style with variations in countries like Argentina and Uruguay). In this new version, Puerto Candelaria has added the afro and folk rhythms of porró choquano and buyerengue from Panamá's neighboring country of Colombia.

Even though - in Puerto Candelaria fashion - the new 'Murga' has electronic beats, the song has an atemporal quality that is deliberate and part of the band's modus operandi. "We like to play dirty tricks to what's fashionable," says Valencia. "Puerto Candelaria makes fun music but with strong foundation." It's not just any version, it demostrates the knowledge and respect for the form and even the influences that nourished Fania artists at the time.

Puerto Candelaria is also releasing a cover of Colón and Lavoe's 'La Banda' under Fania. It's a fitting return to form for the band and Valencia in particular, who grew up listening to salsa at home through his father Luis Fernando, an obsessive salsa record collector. For Valencia, the figure of Hector Lavoe is monumental in Latin music because "he is that antiheroe who is enthralling; he is so entrenched in our veins as Latinos. He was ugly, had terrible luck and a very dramatic life. His magic resides in his charisma."

Puerto Candelaria will be on tour in Europe this summer and will be in the United States in the fall.