High-octane guitar arpeggios pierce through the opening bars of the new song by Cienfue, “Macho de Monte Suite,” the title track on his eagerly-awaited new release.

Cienfue, the artistic name for versatile Panamanian musician Camilo Navarro, is set to unleash a fresh gamut of sounds on Costa Rican audiences for the first time, for two nights. He is scheduled to play tonight at San Pedro's Jazz Café and tomorrow at San José's Latino Rock Café.

Strong hints of macho in Cienfue go back before his solo career, which debuted with the 2005 album “El Disco es Cultura.” Previous projects include a long run with the band Bodega Sónica. He featured on the group's celebrated last CD, “Las Estrellas se Estrellan,” which Rolling Stone Latinoamérica fondly called “the craziest, most egocentric Panamanian rock album” – but they hadn't heard his solo stuff yet.

Cienfue fuses socially charged messages – sometimes considered offensive – into his lyrics, and sings them over tracks with heavy Latin rock guitar riffs and electronic often hip-hop-like hooks. As reviewers have acknowledged, the result gives a nod to Spanish-French fusionist Manu Chau, while honoring Panama's age-old folkloric style.

“El Disco” delivers nasty lyrics such as “I don't like virgins” and “female dogs bite,” all on one song, “Virgenes.” Another track, “Mi Colombiana,” slams against Colombian people trafficking. Text posted on the music video states that “each year Colombia traffics 2,000 people” outside its borders, adding that Panama had become a preferred destination. He said thousands end up working in the shadows of the sex industry.

His country has praised him, honoring Cienfue in 2006 with three Premios Panama Rock awards, for best newcomer, solo artist and music video (for the track “Medio Alcohólico Melancólico”). Last year he again won the best solo artist prize.

His Myspace profile, http://www.myspace.com/cienfue, contains music videos and selected tracks.