Multiple songs on Cuco's new album Ridin' mention cars or driving. 

In some cases, it's an extended metaphor, as on "My 45," featuring Jean Carter, where the singer/songwriter's girl is depicted as a "ride or die" through a series of vehicular references. Sometimes, it's in passing, as on "ICNBYH," which opens with the lines, "Go grab a coat and let's go out for a ride." But wheels play an outsized role on the album, and the 26 year-old's own 1989 Toyota Supra features on the album's cover. 

Still, Cuco wouldn't quite call it a concept album — but he will cop to a recurring theme. "I'm really into the idea of every project I put out being cohesive and telling a story. But it is a lot of world building. Yeah, it has a lot to do with cars," he admits. If anything, Cuco would characterize his third full-length as a love letter to his native Los Angeles. 

These new songs are inspired by driving around the city and the music he listens to on the road, especially Chicano soul, the smooth, mellow oldies by both Chicano and non-Chicano artists that have become eternally connected to Mexican American culture, especially Mexican American car culture and especially in L.A. The cars, music and place are so intertwined with each other, and with Cuco's experience growing up that he couldn't separate them even if he wanted to. Instead, he put it all together on Ridin'.

"I want this to be an essential album for people to think about when they're gonna go drive and cruise," he tells GRAMMY.com.

Appropriately, the heavily romantic album returns to his musical and thematic roots. Ridin' is characterized by a more acoustic sound made rich with brass and woodwinds, aided by top-notch instrumentalists such as the Roots' trumpet player Dave Guy and bassist Sal Samano of Thee Sacred Souls. The album was developed with the wisdom of GRAMMY-nominated guitarist and producer Thomas Brenneck, who is known for his work with the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, and Mark Ronson.

The analog sound is the perfect mate for the album's wistful nostalgia, that seems born of introspection and a hard earned maturity. It reflects creative growth since the heavy modern psychedelia of 2022's Fantasy Gateway, even as he leans into the loverboy energy that characterized his early music, while centering his longstanding soul and psych influences. 

Ridin' hits the streets on May 9. As an introduction to his new music, Cuco shares the inspirations that drove his third LP. 

The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Southern California Cruising Culture

I have a big love for cars. I've been into cars since I was a kid, playing video games, watching the Fast & Furious movies, getting into the tuner culture. I love all kinds of cars. I love American cars, European cars. I love anything that has a cool story. 

I like to cruise. So, obviously, cruising means I'm going to listen to music. Whenever I cruise, I drive with no destination. I just kind of get lost and L.A. has a lot of cool scenic drives. So, that's where the love letter to L.A. kind of stems from. I love my city. I love where I grew up, how I grew up, the people I grew up around, the things that the city keeps giving me. 

I want this to be an essential album for people to think about when they're gonna go drive and cruise. It's good to have an album that sonically doesn't require a lot of thinking; something they can just hear and you know all the words of the songs. Maybe an album that does mean a lot to you, an album that feels like a journey. I just so happened to be making a soul record so it naturally fell into what cruising music is. 

Chicano Soul

It was premeditated that I wanted to make a Chicano soul record. That was already set in stone for me. Since I can remember, that was one of my favorite genres to listen to growing up. I didn't really have a particular album that I really liked. It was more just music that was all over my playlist, like "Much Better Off" by Smokey Robinson. I love that song. It's a song that can always be on repeat.

Some music was intended with the purpose of being what it was, right? [In the '60s] when it was made, there wasn't cholo culture, the Chicano culture. It was more folks just making soul records, but obviously a lot of Chicano soul [artists] came up. The Royal Jesters is a good example of that, but then you think about Brenton Wood, who was such an essential part of the culture for so long. He was doing all these shows, even appearing at car meets and stuff like that. I have homies that have played alongside [him] and he was an influence to them. 

Then, you have artists now making a movement, like Thee Sinseers from L.A. They're amazing people making amazing music. I've been a fan for a minute;  I've always loved what they do. Los Yesterdays' Gabe Rowland, he played on this record. 

I listen to a lot of soul music, but once it's time to get into the making of the music, I steer away from listening to anything that could be remotely a reference, so that I don't gravitate to doing something that sounds like what I was just listening to in the car. 

There is one song on this album, though — on "Seems So," I thought about "Shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby," Barbara Lewis' "Hello Stranger." So, we have that in there as a kind of musical tag.

Thomas Brenneck & The Team Studio Heavyweights

[Tom] produced the record. He's an insane instrumentalist. As a musician, he's just next level. It was crazy playing with someone like that. He helped me dial in a more natural sound. I'm always recording with a lot of synths, a lot of double, quadruple vocals, just layering everything. And we worked super minimal. It was cool just to be able to jam with him. 

Gabe Rowland brought a sound to a few of the drum tracks. Watching him jam, and just understanding what the soul pocket with drumming is, was super inspiring to watch. 

For "Troublemaker" and "I Could Never Break Your Heart," [drummer] Alex Garcia and [bassist] Sal [Samano], watching them jam, it was a cool reminder of what it looks like when somebody's just been playing for so long with somebody else. You know what's going on. You know what your homie is about to do next and it's cool watching it, because me and my band mates, for sure have that, but it's really dope seeing the touch they had.

Watch: Cuco's Favorite Synthesizer Is Also His Music Teacher And Songwriting Muse | It Goes To 11

His Own Musical Roots

I think [Ridin'] is digging into the roots of what my sound is. Old music inspired me a lot. It doesn't have to be oldies, but anything remotely old. Romanticas. Old psych music. I just want people to know that there's a place where that comes from, my sound. 

All the synths — I think about the '80s. This is where my music comes from. I've touched a lot on the psych world, but there's a whole romantic vibe. To get into what makes the romance of my music really romantic, that's a lot of old music, not just oldies, but also a lot of Spanish oldies, like Los Tres Ases, Juan Gabriel, José José.

Watch: Cuco On 'Para Mi,' Musical Tastes, MC Magic & Lil Rob | Up Close & Personal

Loved Ones He's Lost

I was going up and down in life. Just trial and error with my own love life, my own headspace, my sobriety and facing everything that has to do with my depression and my anxiety, because I have a pretty bad case of both, dealing with loss over the last couple years of a lot of family members. 

Whether it's heartbreak or losing somebody in death, you get that kick of nostalgia and start remembering times that you were with those people. And the way I've always coped with that nostalgic sadness is listening to music and going outside. If it's not driving, it's being active, going skating or running or walking or whatever it is. 

That was a huge part of why I wanted to make this record, and that's why "My Old Friend" is on there too. I wanted to make a song that's an ode to the people that are still alive. I wish I could have made that song for all my friends and family who passed away.