After writing hits for Kali Uchis, Drake, Karol G, and some of the biggest names in contemporary music, Ecuadorian songwriter and producer CRIS CHIL is stepping into the spotlight with her own story. Through her debut EP UMBRAL, the liberating new single “FRUTA,” and an accompanying short film, she’s exploring heartbreak, female desire, and the complicated process of reclaiming yourself.
For years, CRIS CHIL has helped some of the world’s biggest artists tell their stories.
As a GRAMMY-nominated, multi-platinum songwriter and producer, the Ecuadorian creative has contributed to global records including Kali Uchis’ “telepatía,” Sean Paul and J Balvin’s “Contra La Pared,” and Kali Uchis and Karol G’s “Labios Mordidos,” while collaborating with artists such as Drake, Selena Gomez, Anitta, and Benny Blanco.
But there’s a difference between understanding someone else’s emotions and finding the courage to expose your own.
With her debut EP, UMBRAL, arriving in December 2026, CRIS is stepping out from behind the songs she’s helped create to confront a deeply personal period of heartbreak, anger, desire, and self-discovery.
The title translates from Spanish as threshold, a fitting metaphor for a project concerned with the uncomfortable space between the person you once were and the person you’re becoming.
“I had to leave behind an old version of myself,” she tells MUNDANE. “The one that carried so much sadness, anger, confusion, and guilt.”
But rather than presenting healing as a straightforward progression from pain to empowerment, UMBRAL embraces its contradictions.
“One day you’re sad, the next you’re out having fun, and the day after you’re feeling intense anger,” she explains. “Healing is a rollercoaster.”
From Heartbreak to Reclaiming Desire
The emotional range of UMBRAL becomes particularly clear through its singles.
On “La Respuesta,” CRIS confronts the lingering attachment to a past she knows she cannot return to. Glitch-heavy production gives way to stripped-back piano, reflecting the tension between emotional volatility and painful clarity.
“When I wrote ‘La Respuesta,’ I knew I couldn’t go backward, even if part of me still wanted to,” she explains.
Its self-directed music video makes those emotions physical, culminating in CRIS destroying a television with a baseball bat.
By contrast, “VITAMINA,” which was featured in a global MLS x Apple TV commercial, embraces the euphoric rush of newfound freedom through bouncing bass and a rap-forward delivery.
Then comes “FRUTA,” a playful, Brazilian-funk-influenced celebration of female desire.
The song reclaims the symbolism of forbidden fruit, transforming something traditionally associated with temptation and shame into an expression of autonomy.
“We live in a very ‘machista’ society where women have been taught that embracing their desires or having fun is something to feel ashamed of,” CRIS says.
“With FRUTA, I wanted to challenge that stigma and remind women that it’s okay to choose, to feel, to explore, and to enjoy themselves without guilt or shame.”
The track marks an important turning point in the EP’s emotional journey.
“FRUTA represents that moment when you’re finally ready to step back into your power,” she explains.
It’s not about finding another relationship to replace the one that ended. It’s about rediscovering the freedom to exist on your own terms.
Making Herself the Center of the Story
The visual world surrounding UMBRAL is just as important as the music.
CRIS has written and directed a short film connecting the project’s seven songs, using cinematic storytelling to explore emotions that aren’t always explicit in the lyrics.
In the visual for “FRUTA,” an inflatable man becomes a deliberately absurd symbol of how irrelevant a new romantic interest can be to the actual process of healing.
“Reclaiming your power is about you, not about trying to fill a void with someone new,” she explains.
“Everyone else is just a character in your story.”
It’s a playful but pointed reversal of the way women’s stories about desire are so often defined by the people they desire.
For CRIS, directing her own visuals also allows her to reveal different layers of the same emotional experience.
“In LA RESPUESTA, the song doesn’t necessarily express anger, but the video shows that phase where you just want to destroy everything.”
The combination of music and film creates a more expansive portrait of recovery, one that accommodates contradictions instead of trying to resolve them.
The Vulnerability of Stepping Into the Spotlight
After years of success behind the scenes, CRIS is accustomed to translating other artists’ experiences into songs that resonate with millions.
Writing for herself, however, requires a different kind of exposure.
“It’s definitely exposing,” she admits. “That was probably the hardest part of deciding to release my own music.”
But she also recognizes the potential significance of sharing an experience that once felt deeply private.
“I went through an incredibly toxic situation, and I believe God allowed me to experience it so I could come out stronger and become a testimony for others that healing is possible.”
The creative process became therapeutic in its own right.
“Putting my journey into words felt like therapy, and looking back at the finished project made me realize just how far I’ve come.”
Ultimately, UMBRAL isn’t about inventing an entirely new identity after heartbreak.
It’s about recovering the parts of yourself that difficult experiences can bury.
“I think it was someone who had always lived within me, but layers of trauma had buried her so deep that I’d forgotten who she was,” CRIS reflects.
“I didn’t have to create someone new, I just had to find my way back to myself.”
For an artist who has spent years helping other people articulate who they are, that realization feels particularly meaningful.
With UMBRAL, CRIS CHIL is finally telling a story that belongs entirely to her.
And this time, she’s not asking anyone else to sing it.
In Conversation With CRIS CHIL
MUNDANE: “FRUTA” turns the idea of forbidden fruit into something you consciously choose to reach for rather than something you’re warned against. What interested you about reclaiming that symbol as an expression of pleasure and agency?
CRIS CHIL: We live in a very “machista” society where women have been taught that embracing their desires or having fun is something to feel ashamed of. With FRUTA, I wanted to challenge that stigma and remind women that it’s okay to choose, to feel, to explore, and to enjoy themselves without guilt or shame. There’s nothing sinful about owning your desires.
MUNDANE: There’s an important distinction between feeling free because you’ve escaped something and actually learning how to feel like yourself again. Where does “FRUTA” fall between those two stages for you?
CRIS CHIL: FRUTA represents that moment when you’re finally ready to step back into your power. Throughout UMBRAL, I explore the different emotions and stages we go through after a breakup, and FRUTA is that turning point when you stop feeling broken and start remembering who you are. It’s when you take the initiative to go back out into the world, have fun, and enjoy yourself again.
MUNDANE: The inflatable man in the “FRUTA” visual is hilarious because he’s physically present but ultimately irrelevant. Was reducing the male figure to a literal prop your way of challenging how often women’s stories about desire are still framed around the person they desire?
CRIS CHIL: Hahaha, I love that detail! It was very intentional. I wanted to make it clear that reclaiming your power is about you, not about trying to fill a void with someone new. It’s not about him or anyone else. It’s about choosing yourself, owning your power, and stepping into it.
MUNDANE: Brazilian funk gives “FRUTA” this intensely physical, percussive energy. When you were making the track with Thom Bridges, did the sound unlock the confidence of the song, or did you already know emotionally who you needed to become before finding its musical language?
CRIS CHIL: I was definitely at that stage where I was ready to have fun again and reclaim my power, so I knew the song had to be intense and playful. The Brazilian influences came naturally. I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many amazing Brazilian artists, and I’ve always admired their freedom and energy when it comes to having fun. Thom did an amazing job bringing that energy into the track. The whole song came together so effortlessly, everything just flowed.
MUNDANE: UMBRAL translates to threshold, which feels particularly appropriate for a record about existing between versions of yourself. What did you have to leave behind in order to cross that threshold?
CRIS CHIL: I had to leave behind an old version of myself. The one that carried so much sadness, anger, confusion, and guilt. I realized I couldn’t carry all of that into the next chapter of my life. Crossing that threshold meant letting go of everything that was holding me back and making room for the person I was becoming.
MUNDANE: You’ve described the process behind UMBRAL as nonlinear. Did writing these songs while you were actually living through the experiences ever result in songs contradicting one another—or capturing versions of you that you no longer completely recognize?
CRIS CHIL: Definitely. It was confusing at times because healing is a rollercoaster. One day you’re sad, the next you’re out having fun, and the day after you’re feeling intense anger. That’s actually one of the most important messages I want to share through UMBRAL. It’s okay to feel intensely, to change your mind, and then change it again. You just have to be compassionate with yourself and understand that riding that rollercoaster is part of healing.
MUNDANE: You’re not only releasing seven songs but writing and directing a short film around them. What could you communicate through images, characters, or cinematic storytelling that the music alone couldn’t fully articulate?
CRIS CHIL: I love how visuals allow me to take the message so much deeper. For example, the inflatable man in FRUTA represents how healing isn’t about replacing someone you lost. Everyone else is just a character in your story. It’s about YOU, not them. In LA RESPUESTA, the song doesn’t necessarily express anger, but the video shows that phase where you just want to destroy everything. That’s why I love directing my videos and short films. There are so many layers to these stories that music alone can’t fully express. Just wait until you see the full short film… there are so many hidden messages in the visuals.
MUNDANE: You’ve written records for some of the biggest artists in contemporary pop. When you’ve spent years becoming extraordinarily good at understanding someone else’s voice, how difficult is it to stop thinking like a songwriter-for-hire and ask, what would I make if nobody else had to sing this?
CRIS CHIL: Honestly, it’s not difficult at all. I’d say it’s even easier. When I write for other artists, I try to deeply understand their stories and what they’re going through. But nobody knows my story and feelings better than I do. I feel blessed that writing for others has given me the skills to articulate those emotions in a way people can relate to, because at the end of the day, we all go through similar challenges. Of course, I’m much more self-critical when writing for myself, but I think that’s a good thing.
MUNDANE: Success behind the scenes can offer a certain degree of protection: people know the songs without necessarily knowing the person who created them. Does putting your own face, body, experiences, and identity at the center of UMBRAL feel more liberating or more exposing?
CRIS CHIL: It’s definitely exposing. That was probably the hardest part of deciding to release my own music. But I realized that vulnerability was a small sacrifice compared to the good I could do by sharing my story. I went through an incredibly toxic situation, and I believe God allowed me to experience it so I could come out stronger and become a testimony for others that healing is possible. At the same time, it was incredibly liberating. Putting my journey into words felt like therapy, and looking back at the finished project made me realize just how far I’ve come.
MUNDANE: UMBRAL is ultimately about losing yourself and deciding who you want to become afterward. Now that you’ve made it through the record and the film, is the person on the other side someone you rediscovered—or someone you had to create from scratch?
CRIS CHIL: I think it was someone who had always lived within me, but layers of trauma had buried her so deep that I’d forgotten who she was. I didn’t have to create someone new, I just had to find my way back to myself. So yes, I had to lose myself to find myself again, and I’m so happy I did.
UMBRAL is scheduled for release in December 2026.
Stream “La Respuesta” | Watch the Official Video | Listen to “VITAMINA”
Follow CRIS CHIL: Instagram | TikTok | Spotify
Photography: Roro Guarisma.
