Un Canto por México Vol 2

The follow-up to last year’s acclaimed Un Canto por México, Vol 1 (a Top of the World in November 2020, #162), this album continues Lafourcade’s celebration of the music of Veracruz in aid of the project to rebuild that city’s Centro de Documentación del Son Jarocho, damaged by an earthquake in 2017. Once again, it’s a polished yet powerful performance, with Lafourcade at the zenith of her talents. While she’s too decorous to be a Chavela Vargas, she nonetheless can pack heaps of emotion, as well as virtuosity, into a song, flitting with deceptive ease from sweet to tragic, romantic to resigned – the high notes seem to come as naturally as the soft whispers. Famous guest vocalists, including Caetano Veloso on ‘Soy Lo Prohibido’ and Rubén Blades on ‘Tú Sí Sabes Quererme’, add further sheen, with Uruguayan troubadour Jorge Drexler, Mexican balada star Carlos Rivera, mariachi godfather Pepe Aguilar and Chilean tropical-rock diva Mon Laferte also joining in the fundraiser. Such collaborative love-ins have an inevitable greatest hits feel, especially when the tracklist is full of standards, but Lafourcade’s soaring vocals on ‘La Llorona’, which opens the album, hit the chest just where it (pleasurably) hurts, the accordion-based melodies have wonderful swing, and Blades’ richly textured voice is, as ever, a joy to hear. Due to the pandemic, some of the mixing was carried out remotely, but you wouldn’t know. Son jarocho honours home life, harvests and work. Un Canto… Vol 2 proves its capacity to make even a stellar showcase sound earthy and real.