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Singers iLe and Natalia Lafourcade together "En Cantos" 1:12
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(CNN Spanish) - Natalia Lafourcade presents her long-awaited record production “Un canto por México Vol. 1”, which covers 14 songs with rhythms, melodies and arrangements that remind us of the roots of Mexican culture, the party and the fandango they have made Mexico is a place like few others and that in its own words “tastes like mole”.
We spoke with Lafourcade who is at home in confinement about this production and who told us about the feeling that surrounds him. “This album was not going to be an album but a concert with a cause and in the end we said that we are not going to leave it alone at a concert… Having recorded it the way we did it was like a dream; It was 3 weeks of a lot of rush and I was jumping from one studio to the other to rehearse the concert and then record in the studio… I feel very grateful because it really is an album that reflects my love for Mexico and so many composers that I have interpreted and that I admire ” .
Pop Zone
If you could say that this album is a Mexican dish, what would it be?
Natalia Lafourcade
The album tastes like mole to me. Mole is such a complex dish to prepare. The lady who helps me around the house prepares a delicious mole from scratch, from grinding all the chilies, the powders and the whole dish from scratch. The mole has so many ingredients and it is so exotic and it goes well with so many things and for me, that is this album, with so many musical ingredients, talent and collaboration. I like to compare it a lot with a saucer or with this part of the tree of life that is our handicraft, to which they put even the pot, the goat, the hen and the molcajete. That really is a song for Mexico, an album with a lot of allegory, life and what we are, our history and the daily life of the Mexican.
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We are just a day away from releasing # a cantormomexico I feel my heart in my mouth with so much emotion. It fills me with pleasure to know that in these strange times we are going through, I can take you on a trip listening to this album. Every time we worked on it I felt the music take my hands and fly me up, taking me on a trip to many places. I hope you feel that when you hear it. ❤️🙏🏻🇲🇽 @ uncantopormexico
A post shared by Natalia Lafourcade (@natalialafourcade) on May 7, 2020 at 6:58 am PDT
“Un canto por México Vol. 1” ranges from the great party with son and mariachi in “El Balajú / Serenata Huasteca” to the minimalist beauty of the classic song “Cucurrucucú paloma”, composed by Tomás Méndez where Natalia shines with a moving interpretation where his only accompaniment is a guitar. He also has moments reserved for new classics of the Mexican songbook such as "I no longer live to live" with Leonel García or "Till the Root" with Los Cojolites and Los Auténticos Decadentes, as well as "Sembrando flores" alongside Los Cojolites and a ranchera version of "Beautiful Mexican" with Carlos Rivera. Songs that shine with the arrangements prepared by Natalia herself along with Nando Hernández and Kiko Campos, also musical director of the project. This without counting on the exciting version of "Veracruz".
Pop Zone
What does the song “My religion” have so that you have chosen it as the first single?
Natalia Lafourcade
It is a song that I composed to music and love. The moment of inspiration to do it was very beautiful and precise, of those that rarely happen, to make a song in a short time. I had thought that I wanted to compose a song to music in gratitude for everything it gives me, for how my relationship with music is. When I was writing the lyrics, I connected to when I first stepped on a stage that was when I was 10 years old on a pastorela to sing with a ranchero group… At the end of the second song that was “Amor eterno” by Juan Gabriel, I felt I never wanted to get off the stage and I was wondering what this feeling is and I wanted to stay my whole life ”.
A song for Mexico is a charity musical project that Natalia Lafourcade dedicates to different causes, this time it is in favor of the reconstruction of the Documentation Center of Son Jarocho, which in 2017 was seriously affected: “This space is very important for the culture, art and music. It is a space that has kept very important documentation about son jarocho. There are such important and incredible musicians that it is very important for me to help him. It was very emotional to be able to meet this community and take the seminar that is taught on the island of Luna Negra. It was magical to see the new generations loving this musical genre and its roots. "
What is love for Natalia? What has music become in your personal and professional life? Why do you consider this production your soul? How do you define Mexican music? We invite you to listen to the full interview in a new episode. “A song for Mexico Vol. 1” is already on sale on all platforms.
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Music Pop ZoneNatalia Lafourcade