Natalia Lafourcade had already mentioned that the recording sessions for
Musas, her glorious 2017 tribute to the Great Latin American Songbook, had yielded enough material for more than one album. No sooner said than done,
Musas, Vol. 2 was released less than nine months after the first installment. Cut from exactly the same stylish cloth as
Vol. 1,
Vol. 2 extends the blissful collaboration between
Lafourcade and legendary guitar duo Los Macorinos on 13 more selections by iconic authors such as
Álvaro Carrillo, Margarita Lecuona, Augusto Polo Campos, and Alberto Domínguez.
Lafourcade, her understanding of this material equally exquisite as a singer and as a songwriter, again introduces a few originals that are indistinguishable from classics written in the early and mid-20th century. She also ventures into social commentary, one of the main directions Latin American songwriting has taken since the '60s, but which she left unexplored until
Musas with the inclusion of "Derecho de Nacimiento," originally written for the #MúsicosConYoSoy132 collective. And while standards such as "La Llorona," "Luz de Luna," and "Eclipse" have been recorded over and over by giants such as
Chavela Vargas,
María Dolores Pradera, and
João Gilberto,
Lafourcade's versions are simply superb, as well as skillfully complemented with less well-known marvels like "Desdeñosa" by Benigno Lara Foster, here graced with the majestic voices of
Eugenia León and
Omara Portuondo. The worst one can say about
Musas, Vol. 2 is that it lacks the novelty factor of its predecessor. On just about every other account, it is just as delightful and lovingly curated a tribute as anyone could hope for. ~ Mariano Prunes