To further promote the album, Sanz embarked on his El Alma Al Aire Tour in 2001, where he performed in Latin America, Spain, and the United States.

[8] The album's title, El Alma al Aire, was announced on 7 July 2000, and it would feature ten original songs.

[10] Several musicians involved in the recording had worked with Sanz on Más, including Vicente Amigo (Spanish guitar), Alfredo Paixao (bass), Lulo Perez (brass), Ludovico Vagnone (guitar), and Luca Jurman (background vocals),[10] while José Miguel Carmona of Ketama fame collaborated on the record as well.

[11] El Alma al Aire is a contemporary pop album and consists of ten tracks,[13] all composed by Sanz,[14] featuring ballads and "flamenco-tinged" uptempo numbers.

[15] In comparison to his previous album, which mixed pop and flamenco, El Alma al Aire leans more towards ballads.

"[17] The opening track, "Cuando Nadie Me Ve", is a ballad that tells of a "man's loneliness, of pain as a subtle punishment".

[23] On "Hay un Universo de Pequeñas Cosas", Sanz invites the audience to "reflect on the small details that make up the world in which we live.

[29] "Una Noche" was previously included in the Latin American edition of In Blue (2000), while the duet version of "Adoro" was first recorded for Manzanero's studio album Duetos (2001).

[39][49] Its music video, also directed by Toledo and filmed in Madrid, narrates an immortal man played by Sanz who, throughout history, falls in love with a woman belonging to another.

Several Spanish celebrities appear in the video, including Miguel Bosé, Santiago Segura, José Coronado, and Gabino Diego.

[58] In March 2002, Warner Music released the El Alma al Aire en Directo live album on VHS and DVD, which was filmed during a 28 June 2001 show at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

[58] Rating it three out of four stars, Daniel Shumski of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote the tracks "fall into two categories: those that sound as if they were borrowed from Más and those that take cautious baby steps to advance his songwriting abilities".

Shumski praised the "clever turns of phrase and cut-above-standard lyrics" as well as Sanz's "velvety vocals and tuneful melodies".

[15] The Chicago Tribune critic Achy Obejas stated all the songs in the album are "a Sanz composition: romantic, but realistic, lyrically lush but in fresh and unexpected ways, serious but surprisingly sincere."

[63] El Nuevo Herald reviewer Eliseo Cardona opined: "From the beginning, from the first note that catches your ear, 'El Alma al Aire' reveals its immense magnetism" with its "[l]ustful sound massages, metaphors that turn the imagination right and wrong".

[64] AllMusic editor Stacia Proefrock gave the record three out of five stars, stating that while it was "not as strong as his best albums like Más, El Alma al Aire does present a solid collection of ballads" and praised its string sections.

[59] Ernest Lechner reviewed for the Los Angeles Times and rated the disc two-and-a-half stars and out four, citing the artist's talent to make the "kind of crisp, manipulatively romantic music" but criticized the album's "fussy production values".

[62] El Norte critic Deborah Davis was left underwhelmed with the album due to "the weak songs included".

[60] La Prensa editor Eva Aguilar wrote that the album has "merits" such as "Quisiera Ser", "Para Que Me Quieras", and "Me Iré", but concluded that it does not surpass his previous work.

[1] At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2001, the record was nominated in the category of Best Latin Pop Album, which went to MTV Unplugged (2000) by Shakira.

[72] El Alma al Aire was certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of over a million copies in Europe.