Natalia Lafourcade - Mujer Divina

Mujer Divina, Natalia Lafourcade
Sony Music, México
Rating: 80
by Carlos Reyes

Too often in music, attaining maturity equals compromising the musical search. This might never be the case for our generation's darling Natalia Lafourcade. In an interview earlier this year Lafourcade confessed feeling incredibly moved by Mexico’s bicentenario, where she played chanteuse as part of Alondra de la Parra’s Travieso Carmesí. The event led her to a renaissance of national composers from the past, falling in love particularly with Agustín Lara (“El Flaco de Oro”). The follow up to the majestic Hu Hu Hu is a duets tribute album to Lara, to his ever-peeling melodies and the poetry of his profound words.

For the first time in a long time (perhaps since Café Tacvba’s pre-drums era), Mexican indie is witnessing an appreciation for Mexico's music. And it’s happening at different levels: from the indie-gone-mainstream success of Carla Morrison to the cult-gone-classic feat of Juan Cirerol. These artists are reinstating the fact that it’s okay and beautiful to sound Mexican. This observation is of particular significance when considering Hu Hu Hu was the result of Lafourcade’s creative expatriation to Canada. Mujer Divina finds a Natalia Lafourcade that’s less transitional and more acquainted to a classicist artistic scope. She’s quieter than we usually like her to be, but refinement has its perks. Featuring a stellar lineup of accompanying men, this is a record that skips the innate charm of duets and carves for deep emotional exchange.

Mujer Divina starts at a high point, with the always-comforting voice of Adrián Dárgelos (Babasonicos) describing the haunting gaze of a divine woman. When Lafourcade’s voice enters the spectrum, she quickly resolves the biggest anxiety felt by the album’s gendered premise: Will Lafourcade play a passive/recipient role or will she be an active participant in the storytelling? From track one, she refuses to be the muse of Lara’s love songs, and not once does she bow submissive in front of these worldly celebrated men. Lara would be proud of her stance. Lafourcade and her respective companion approach every song with due respect, negotiating rhythmic pace and idiosyncrasies without hurting the album’s overall refined coherence.

Leading single “La Fugitiva” (featuring Kevin Johansen) is a slow-burning cut where tangents from Lara’s original composition are subtly revealed. While the departure might seem impersonal, there are historical margins to be followed. Lafourcade’s approach is considerate and, with the exception of “Aventurera” (featuring Dominican singer Alex Ferreira), she opts to step away from the mounting orchestrations that defined a lineage between Las 4 Estaciones del Amor and Hu Hu Hu. Other standout numbers include the flourishing “Limosna” (featuring Café Tacvba’s Meme), the whimsical “Farolito” (featuring Gilberto Gil), and the ethereal “Amor de mis amores” (featuring Devendra Banhart). To be totally honest, the idea of a tribute collaborative album never really excited our staff, but we should know better than to underestimate the pulling of our heartstrings at the touch of the eternally consoling Natalia Lafourcade.

Hay Un Cuerpo Tirado En La Calle, Franny Glass

HAY UN CUERPO TIRADO
EN LA CALLE,
FRANNY GLASS
Contrapedal, Uruguay
Rating: 72
By Carlos Reyes

This is the first Uruguayan album we ever reviewed, well, not really, there’s a review for Mar Dulce somewhere around but besides that, we hadn’t had the chance to look deep into the scene until a couple of weeks ago that prolific producer Juan Campodonico hooked us up with a very cool label called Contrapedal. It’s great to open another channel to discover, because of course, there’s more to Uruguayan pop than El Cuarteto de Nos, Bajofondo, Erik Couts and Jorge Drexler. Franny Glass is a fantastic way to start filling the gap; this is a one-man show by Gonzalo Deniz whose eloquent creations are closer to a story-teller than a singer, Hay Un Cuerpo Tirado En La Calle is his second album.

Right from the start one feels a seamless construction of camp-like fire songs attached to strings, it’s folk and pop and country. Franny Glass’s articulation also reminds me of Spain’s Sr. Chinarro and Francisco Nixon, they all stand on the verge of cantautores and trovadores, this explains the hard time outsiders have with their music and why the people around them embrace them as they’re very own. Take the first single “Hoy no quiero verte nunca más”, its elite is implused by circled travelling instead of melody, in part because there is little instrument intervention, leaving the man restore his faith by discharging painful memories of his broken heart.

Most of the album is down there, chants about desolation or to be exact, 13 songs of despair and “Protegiendome del Sol”, one that is sort of sad but very uplifting. This piece is so painful and at the same time very beautiful, an inconsolable brokenhearted individual protects himself from the sun by not going out, deciding instead to heal by listening to records, if unsuccessful, it might just be time to bring the sun down interminably; ok, I lied not exactly uplifting but at least it gives pain some closure. There are some lighter sing-along tracks like “Abro Los Ojos” and “Quedate Un Rato”, cautionary victims of living life under routine but conforming to some standards, very respectful in my book. There are too many spare songs here and not enough variation among them, but I guess we can’t get enough songs about love and its details.

♫♫♫ "Hoy No Quiero Verte Nunca Mas"
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Gracias, Omara Portuondo

GRACIAS, OMARA PORTUONDO
World Village, Cuba ****
Rating: 86
By Carlos Reyes

Embraced by a generation that witnessed the iconic gathering that is the Buena Vista Social Club, the charming musicians continue to develop musical personality. Omara Portuondo won our hearts in that scene from the documentary where she walked through the streets of Cuba, lighting up the island and later illuminating a sold-out Carnegie Hall. Her follow ups as a solo artist have been nothing less than masterful productions unable to find a comfort zone, Omara Portuondo continues her search for musical ambiguity, wherever she is heading, we must feel fortunate she is taking us with her. Her new album Gracias due next month, is her most ambitious production yet, a top-class world album that should place her along Mercedes Sosa as the most important soloist of Latin traditional music. The album is a festivity to a career of boleros seasoned by tropical burst; the fest also gathered an impressive lineup of musicians with the highlight collaboration of Roberto Fonseca’s gifted piano expertise. Omara possesses vocal virtues rarely found in contemporary music; it’s delicate and powerful, gentle and demanding, complex, colorful and multi-layered like the flowers adorning the album’s artwork. The appearance of Jorge Drexler in the fantastic track “Gracias” should expand the record’s attention outside the world music circuit. Omara invites her grand-daughter to sing along with her in “Cachita”, a song with minimal instrumentation but glorious vocalization from both parts. The most nostalgic moment is the opener, “Yo Vi”, talks about the end of an adventure and the still enormous dream to live, a textured sound design makes us feel the breeze from a Caribbean travel full of hope and liberation. Other collaborations include Chico Buarque in the joyful “O que sera”, Pablo Milanes in the soulful “Amame como soy” and my mom’s favorite track “Nuestro gran amor” with Cachito Lopez and Chucho Valdes. Gracias has the caliber to become transcendental in both, the world music circuit and the Latino shelves at stores.

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