Natalia Lafourcade’s arrival at her 40s led her to discover CANCIONERA, the vein of the message that feeds her new musical project, the character that gives life to her alter ego, and the concept of a tour that will take her around the world for more than a year to perform her new artistic creation. One year later, with the release of her new album on Thursday (April 24), the acclaimed Mexican singer-songwriter affirms that her new work came to reaffirm her role in life and the path she wanted to follow.
“I feel like CANCIONERA came to speak to me about that message as a songwriter that I am, but it also made me feel very inspired by the songs in the world, at a moment in my life where one says to oneself: ‘I’ve reached 40, and now what?'” Lafourcade tells Billboard Español in an interview in Mexico City.
The LP follows De Todas Las Flores, her celebrated 2022 album that earned her a Grammy and three Latin Grammys, and marked a creative partnership with her friend and colleague, French-Mexican producer, musician, actor, and director Adán Jodorowsky. A partnership that is repeated in CANCIONERA, recorded in Mexico entirely on analog tape.
Also collaborating on the album are El David Aguilar, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Israel Fernández, Diego del Morao, and Gordon Hamilton, who enrich the work with their sonic nuances and textures that range from bolero to son jarocho and a flirtation with tropical and ranchera music. In addition, the work of Soundwalk Collective contributes a sound design that complements the depth of the album, integrating natural sounds as part of the musical landscape.
The repertoire of CANCIONERA, Lafourcade’s 12th album, includes original compositions and a couple of reinterpretations of traditional Mexican music with the songs “El coconito” and “La bruja,” which engage in a dialogue with the essence of the project. Released by Sony Music, it consists of 14 tracks, including an acoustic version of “Cancionera” in which she explores sounds such as bolero, son jarocho, tropical, and ranchera music, very much in the style of the iconic Chavela Vargas. Other titles that are part of this production include “Amor clandestino,” “Mascaritas de cristal,” “El Palomo y La Negra,” “Luna creciente,” “Lágrimas cancioneras,” and “Cariñito de Acapulco.”
The winner of four Grammys and 18 Latin Grammys — recently featured among Billboard’s 50 Greatest Latin Pop Artists of All Time — admits that her alter ego in this new work pushed her to do things that she, as Natalia Lafourcade, wouldn’t have done. “This soul of a cancionera cornered me into maximum creativity, from dance to exploring movement, exploring painting, many things that I like and that I perhaps kept hidden in a drawer,” she says. “That shows that it’s a new facet, a stage that taught me about the importance of being true to oneself and following one’s passions.