If you do not speak Spanish, no worries, Y La Bamba still might your next favorite band. A San Francisco native (Oregon/Portland-raised), Luz Elena Mendoza Ramosβ sixth album Lucha (literally βfightβ but also philologically related to luz or βlightβ) is a siren call to a post-Covid world community looking to heal. The album explores Mendozaβs own stand against trauma, machismo, conformity and the past, as well as their own personal history as a queer person. Launching in 2008, Y La Bamba has been praised by NPR, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork; they have toured extensively with The Lumineers; they have written with Devendra Banhart; in short, they are moving the needle for a Spanish-speaking indie music audience. Mendozaβs voice is every bit as lush as a Linda Rondstadt or Norah Jones, but she uses it to traverse the traditionally cis/white/hetero spaces sheβs in, leaning into personal stories to tell a female-centered narrative, e.g. her song βNuncaβ is a loving ode to her mother Maria Elena Ramos whom was a domestic violence surviver, whereas βMas Manosβ is about the uprisings that took place after the murder of George Floyd. Weaving together traditional Mexican-American and Latin American musical forms like mariachi, ranchero, bolero and cumbia with modern psych-rock, chillwave and folk, Y La Bamba is certainly worth a listen to. Check out Lucha here.
Y La Bamba
Cancamusa
Singer-songwriter Cancamusa (born Natalia Andrea Soledad PΓ©rez Peralta) is a small frame with a larger-than-life future ahead of her. Despite the name, there is no βtrickβ involved here. Having only recently debuted at the 2019 Catrina Festival in Puebla, Mexico, she is already a star in her native Chile (she won the Pulsar Award for βBest New Artistβ in 2020βthe Chilean equivalent of The Grammysβas well as the MUSA awards from the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame that same year), and her career is like something out of a movie. Gaining notoriety and kudos from the LGBT+ community after a βkissβ with fellow musician Mon Laferte, Cancamusa has used her platform to help spotlight queer and womenβs issues worldwide, becoming an ambassador in 2021 for Spotify Chileβs EQUAL campaign, which seeks to amplify womenβs voices in music and the music industry. Her solo act is fresh, inventive and suffused with a rich alto voice that would rival Ronnie Spector or Saint Vincent. She is the Spanish-speaking answer to dream-pop or what she calls βCinematic Popβ, with a guitar sound that is remincent of Mac Demarco or Beach House. Armed with a simple Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad and a white Fender Jazzmaster, she brought her sensuous sound to San Francisco in what can only be described as βan awakeningβ. Check out her recent album release Amor Minimal here.
