Natalia Lafourcade – Cancionera

With Cancionera, singer Natalia Lafourcade offers us a sumptuous, ultra-polished album that plunges us deep into Mexican tradition while allowing a subtle modernity to emerge in the arrangements.

Natalia Lafourcade has made a habit of alternating between more contemporary genres and an introspection of tradition. Her previous opus, De Todas las Flores (2022), was part of the former trend; Cancionera, her twelfth album, takes us back to the latter. But the brilliance of Natalia and her co-director Adam Jodorowsky means that the reality is more complex. Each album brings something new to the table, breaking down boundaries and renewing the aesthetic proposition.

Here, we are in a more orchestral context. Ironically, Cancionera opens with an instrumental piece that plunges us into a cinematic, lush, tropical and slightly surreal Mexican atmosphere.

Throughout the album, we hear a multitude of strings, winds and percussion, arranged with great care by Lafourcade, Jodorowsky and conductor Gordon Hamilton, an Australian by birth, renowned for his many musical blends between classical music and many other genres.

But the last part of the album offers more intimate moments, such as Luna Creciente, where Natalia is accompanied by the Hermanos Gutiérrez, the Swiss-Ecuadorian guitarists, or a stripped-down version of “La “Bruja” (The Witch), a traditional song from Lafourcade’s home state of Veracruz. Throughout Cancionera, you’ll find top-notch collaborators like Spanish flamenco singer Israel Fernández, fellow guitarist Diego Del Morao and Mexican songwriter El David Aguilar. And the Gutiérrez family, of course.

This album is extremely well-crafted, subtle and very touching, even if you don’t understand Spanish. Natalia Lafourcade does not have a powerful voice like Silvia Estrada or Chavela Vargas. But she does manage to explore multiple and intense emotions, often through gentleness. That’s because she has an uncommon sense of melody. And she’s only 41. The best is yet to come.

The Cancionera tour will be stopping in Montreal on June 26-27, as part of the Festival International de Jazz. No doubt there will be a big crowd, Latino or not.