For Natalia Lafourcade, the songwriting process can easily become a mystical experience — almost like sorcery.
"Intuition is a very powerful tool," the Mexican singer/songwriter says via Zoom from her home in Veracruz. "We all have the capacity to connect with creative forces that appear seemingly out of nowhere. You just need to open up your heart, and try not to get scared — because the experience can be quite intense."
Lafourcade’s gift for expressing her innermost feelings with disarming honesty and vulnerability is one of the main reasons why she is hailed as one of the most transcendent artists in contemporary Latin music. If the songs on 2022’s GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY-winning De Todas las Flores signaled a new chapter in her career, Lafourcade's new album — the emotional epic Cancionera — reaffirms an aesthetic of warm, acoustic songs that combine the spirit of traditional boleros with jazz and Latin folk.
Like its predecessor, the new session was recorded live on analog tape by virtuoso producer Adán Jodorowsky. For Cancionera, she was backed by an ensemble of 18 musicians.
Lafourcade burst into the scene in 2002 with a whimsical blend of alternative pop-rock and bossa nova. Since then, she has recorded heartfelt tributes to the golden era of the Latin American songbook, while perfecting her craft as a composer of staggering sophistication.
To celebrate the release of Cancionera and its subsequent tour (U.S. dates begin May 29), GRAMMY.com asked Lafourcade to select 10 key songs from her repertoire. Below, Lafourcade traces her remarkable journey from precocious teen to her current creative apex.
This was the first track where people actually recognized me as a singer/songwriter. They hummed along, partied to it, made it theirs. It was my first chance to observe exactly what happens when a song stops being yours.
It also reminds me of a time when everything was moving forward. I went from being a teenage student to someone that people would recognize in the streets. I reacted in a naive way: Wait, why is this happening to me, and what do I get in exchange for it? The music industry — what is that? I didn’t know how you were supposed to talk, or navigate the business. I was clueless. But it was also an important time; the entry point to a personal path that would soon undergo many transformations.
I love performing it, even today. It started as a song that I wrote with Leonel García, but then it transcended us. Both the title track and the album allowed me to understand the level of connection and complicity that a song can claim in the lives of people around the world.
It was an album that demanded a total connection with my own self — and every time I sing it, I’m reminded of that fact. As life moves on, and I change with it, so does my way of interpreting it. At its core, it reminds me why I do what I do. It was a before and after. I never imagined that a song of mine would become so huge. Never, not in a million of years. Having that experience is such an amazing gift.
Except for the songs in Cancionera, all of these tracks have been covered widely by other artists. As a songwriter, nothing makes me prouder than the honor of having another musician wanting to play my song. "Nunca Es Suficiente" was taken to an altogether different sphere by Los Ángeles Azules. In a way, it’s become a song of the world — it belongs to everyone. I love it when songs fly away from me and find a new home in the hearts of other people.
I feel a lot of affection for this one. It’s the first song that I wrote together with [Mexican singer] El David Aguilar, someone who has become a trusted and valuable collaborator. It’s about my relationship with silence and loneliness – the way in which I learned to love, but also to say goodbye.
This was in the past, before I found my husband. We’ve been together for many years, and I hope that our relationship will last long. Loneliness is important, because when you allow yourself to accept solitude, you realize that you’re not alone at all; you have your inner world, and the universe around you, with everything that it longs to tell you. In effect, solitude reflects the essence of that deep connection.
Tragically, the abuse of human rights is something that we witness on an everyday basis. More often than not, I feel helpless about contributing a remedy to the situation, and "Derecho de Nacimiento" hit me like a stream of cold water. I realized how powerful words can be, especially when they are joined by music and turn into a song. Then it’s not only the words of an individual, but the collective words – that has a much bigger impact.
As a songstress, I’m connected to my passion and devotion to music. But there is also the option of providing some type of service, and if I can be of use to the world, surely it’s going to be in the guise of a song.
It’s one of the most mystical pieces of music that I ever witnessed. It arrived at a moment in my life where I felt broken, devoid of the tools that I needed in order to hold my head up. I think this song arrived like a lullaby to soothe my inner child. It happened during a month-long retreat in the countryside, where music became, literally, a healing force. At one point, I didn’t want to include it in the album – I didn’t want people to get sad when they listened to it - but [producer] Adán Jodorowsky was adamant about recording it.
It has this Pachamama energy – Mother Earth with her herbs and mud; her birds, fires and storms. We were recording, and I told Adán that I felt a deep connection with all those energies. "Don’t talk to me," I said. "I feel like Mother Nature with her super powers. I could raise a whole ocean right now." That’s what happens sometimes during the recording process. [Laughs.]
People have truly embraced this song. It reminds me of the grandmothers of the world that many of us have known. Women of infinite wisdom who can frighten us, because they possess medicinal powers. I’ve come to understand that we all have the ability to connect with that same kind of energy.
I’m very pleased that people have embraced this song, because the message is simple, yet beautiful. The right place ("el lugar correcto") is the present moment. The lyrics talk about the importance of remembering that we are here in order to enjoy a certain communion with ourselves. It’s not preachy, but states the message in a casual way. We could experience a massive personal transformation if we realized the importance of loving, forgiving and being at peace with ourselves. Our inner world is reflected in our interpersonal relationships.
This song arrived in my life at the precise moment when I was about to turn 40. I threw a party for an unlimited number of guests – I rented a place and invited every single person who was instrumental in my path. I wanted to express my gratitude and sum up these 40 years. It’s the kind of age where you take a deep breath and wonder: What should I do during the next 40, if I get to live that long? How do I thank these four decades for everything that transpired in them?
That same week, I wrote "Cancionera." It’s like my consciousness telling me not to feel mortified about life. Just follow your natural path, allow yourself to adopt a playful attitude towards life. I’m a cancionera – a songstress – but I’m also more than that. I’m a woman, and a human being. I should give myself permission to play the part of Natalia Lafourcade in many different ways.
I wrote this one with David during a four day songwriting session at my house in Coatepec. We were sitting on the terrace at night, high on inspiration after having completed a different song that day. Suddenly, a melody popped up in my mind, and we ended up writing "Como Quisiera Quererte" on the spot; it was a marvelous thing. We were talking about that awkward situation when you really like somebody, and yet can’t love them with the kind of passion that they expect from you. It’s a very painful feeling, because deep inside you know that it’s better to come clean with the other person and admit the truth. We were sharing past experiences with that type of situation, and that’s how the song came to be.