El Comienzo

El Comienzo (English: The Beginning) is the debut studio album by American regional Mexican music band Grupo Frontera. It was released on August 3, 2023 through VHR Music.

Background and release
Grupo Frontera was formed in 2019 and they created their YouTube channel in 2022, where they released their debut single "La Plata" in April. That same month, they released their second single "No Se Va"; a cover of Morat's original song, which eventually became a hit for the band, and their first hit single. After their rise in popularity, they kept releasing other singles, usually with other artists.

At the end of July 2023, the Grupo Frontera announced that their debut album, along with the cover would be released on August 3, 2023. On August 1, the track listing was revealed, with a total of 12 songs.

On October 19, 2023, Grupo Frontera was announced to be the next artist featured in the Apple Music Up Next series. This was accompanied by the release of the Apple Music Edition of the album, which features the additional single "Amor Propio". The song would be released on other platforms as a standalone single.

Composition
An album of 12 songs, it has collaborations with Bad Bunny, Junior H, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Manuel Turizo, Grupo Firme, Carín León, and Ke Personajes. Although there are 12 songs in the album, the sixth track it had no song and it wasn't until three weeks after the album's release that the song was revealed.

Songs
El Comienzo begins with its first track "No Se Va", the first major success that Grupo Frontera had achieved during 2022. The song itself is a norteño cumbia. The norteño cumbia sound continues on the second track "Un x100to" with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, which was a major hit single in 2023. The third track "En Altavoz", a collaboration with urban sierreño artist Junior H, is a ranchera with accordion, bajo quinto, tololoche, and alto horns; this last instrument giving the song a Sinaloa-style sound instead of Grupo Frontera's Nuevo León style. On the fourth track "Cansado de Sufrir", Grupo Frontera returns to the sound of norteño cumbia. The fifth track "Las Flores" with the band Yahritza y su Esencia, is a grupero bolero, in which the band had stated that it is their favorite song on the album. The sixth track "De Lunes a Lunes" with the Colombian singer Manuel Turizo, is also a norteño cumbia and is about heartbreak.

On the seventh track "Me Gustas", Grupo Frontera once again performs a ranchera with accordion, bajo quinto, tololoche, and alto horns. The eighth track "El Amor de Su Vida" features the band Grupo Firme, where they also return to the norteño cumbia genre. Grupo Frontera performs a country-style ballad with the ninth track on the album "Cuídala". They then return to a norteño cumbia on the tenth track "Que Vuelvas" with Carín León. Said song was released at the end of 2022 and achieved major success in 2023. The eleventh track "Le Va Doler" is another norteño cumbia and the twelfth and final track "Ojitos Rojos" featuring the Argentine ensemble Ke Personajes, is a villera cumbia.