Natalia Lafourcade

One Liner:  Mexican pop rock lady

Wikipedia Genre:  Pop rock, Latin rock, folk, bossa nova
Home: Mexico

Poster Position: 8

Both Weekends.

Thoughts: I swear to God I didn't intend to stack my Spanish language artists.  I had no clue that Kali Uchis or this lady were going to end up having songs in Spanish.  I was well aware of Rosalia, but now I'm stuck in a three artist rut and its crushing my productivity at work.  So, yeah, if that preamble doesn't spoil the story, this gal does her thing in Spanish.

I've heard her 2018 album before - it was on someone's top ten list from last year - but other than some lovely singing and pretty guitar plucking, I don't much care for it.  And that isn't just because of the language barrier, although that definitely comes into play.  Even if this was English, I still wouldn't be likely to hang out with some soft rock acoustic sleepy-time music.  That being said, the top track from the album, "La Llorona," is straight up fucking beautiful.  I have no clue what she is talking about, but its a lovely ballad of dual classical guitars and her longing voice weaving over the top.  I could melt this song into a bathtub and float there until I died.  8.1 million streams.

La Llorona is a famous oral legend in Latin American folklore, and translates to either the Weeping Woman or the Cryer.  "The lore states a woman was abandoned by her husband and was left alone to raise her two sons, whom she instead drowned in a river out of grief and anger. [She then kills herself.]  As a result of her actions the woman is condemned to wander for all eternity until she finds the bodies of her children, often causing misfortune to those who are near or hear her."  Damn.  Beautiful song but sad story.

I'd also like to note that Warner Brothers released a movie called The Curse of La Llorona, that looks freaking scary.

Gah!  I got goosebumps like 3 times!  Stupid scary stuff!  30% on Rotten Tomatoes, so those few jump scares might be as much as you get from that one.  I bet it brought in like $17 in the theaters.  Nope, wow!  Pulled in $122 million worldwide.  Impressive!

Anyway, back to the tunes.  Lafourcade is from Mexico City, and Wikipedia says she is one of the most successful singers in the pop rock scene in all of Latin America.  Her parents are both musicians of note, and her mother used a special musical technique that she pioneered to help Natalia recover following a head injury from being kicked by a horse.  She's been nominated for several Grammys and won in 2016 for Best Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album, and has won 11 Latin Grammys on 23 nominations (almost 50%!  Not bad!)

Other than the honestly quite enjoyable Musas, Vol. 2 album from 2018, she also offers Musas, Vol. 1 from 2017, 2015's Hasta la Raiz (which is responsible for many of those Grammys mentioned above), 2014's Mujer Divina - Homenaje a Agustin Lara, another copy of that same album name but released in 2012, 2012's Rock Latino, 2009's HU HU HU, and 2002's Natalia Lafourcade.  I dig HU HU HU as an album name.

Her top track overall is the title song from Hasta la Raiz, with just over 125 million streams.  Pretty impressive.

 I mean, sure, that is a nice enough sounding song.  But having no clue what it is saying, its not that appealing to me.  And I'm well aware that is my own problem.  With all of these tunes, many of them sound very good and her voice is amazing, but it doesn't mean I'm trying to hear it at the Fest.