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Over the past decade, Natalia Lafourcade appears to have found her groove, alternating between new albums of original material and projects that allow her to investigate other avenues; in particular, the rich heritage of Mexican and Latin American song. In this respect, Musas may initially seem like a sequel to Mujer Divina, her 2012 tribute to Agustín Lara, but a closer analysis exposes several telling differences between records. With Mujer Divina, Lafourcade was translating Lara's work into her pop idiom in the company of several Latin rock and pop stars. Musas, on the other hand, is neither dedicated to a single composer nor a duets album. Most of all, instead of bringing old songs to the present, Lafourcade herself is now traveling back in time to fully immerse in traditional sounds and genres. Finally, rather than celebrate a famous past composer, this project was born from Lafourcade's desire to work with Los Macorinos, the exquisite guitar duo formed by Juan Carlos Allende and Miguel Peña, who famously used to accompany Chavela Vargas, among many others artists. Even if Musas features several other notable collaborators (Gustavo Guerrero, Martín Bruhn, Ximena Sariñana, Juan Manuel Torreblanca, Héctor Castillo, David Aguilar, and Cheche Alara, not to mention a duet with the great Omara Portuondo), los Macorinos remain the heart and soul of this record, together of course with Lafourcade's voice: she has rarely sung better. As for the repertoire, Lafourcade tackles songs by Lara (again!) and Roberto Cantoral, but also extends her vision beyond Mexico to cover Frank Domínguez (Cuba), Violeta Parra (Chile), and Simón Díaz (Venezuela), gently navigating across 50 years or more of Latin American folk music. Unsurprisingly, Musas is a delight from start to finish. Lost in the album's elegance and breeziness, however, the casual listener may miss what is truly impressive about this work. Lafourcade is not merely revisiting the Great Latin American Songbook here: she is measuring herself against it. Musas includes five Lafourcade originals written in the same spirit as the songs by the celebrated composers mentioned above, and -- unless one cheats by looking at the credits -- it is virtually impossible to tell them apart from their noble predecessors. Self-penned opener "Tú Si Sabes Quererme," a son jarocho made in 2016 and graced by a sublime performance by Lafourcade and the always-impeccable los Macorinos, is easily the most beautiful song on this lovely record and an automatic contender for Latin track of the year. It gets better: apparently a second volume from these sessions is already in the mastering stage.© Mariano Prunes /TiVo

Considering how Private Energy positively beamed thanks to radiant songs like "It's My Brown Skin" and "Young, Latin and Proud," the title of Helado Negro's sixth album could come as a surprise. However, on This Is How You Smile, Roberto Carlos Lange finds ways to sustain a sense of identity, family, and love when that energy runs low. For these strong yet tender songs, Lange drew inspiration from Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl," in which an immigrant mother gives her daughter instructions on how to survive and thrive in a world that wasn't made for her. Lange's flair for imagery is just as deft as any author's: He sets the album's mood with "Please Won't Please," sounding weary but resilient as he sings "Lifelong history shows that brown won't go/Brown just glows" over a scuffed beat and luminous synths. On "Imagining What to Do," he sings of "waiting for the glow again," portraying joy, pride, and strength as resources that may flicker, but never fade away entirely. On these songs and throughout This Is How You Smile, Lange couples the evocative music at which he's always excelled with gorgeously insightful lyrics. He's grown into a subtly powerful songwriter over the years, and he's at the peak of his powers on "Pais Nublado," where the way its conversation between Spanish-speaking elders and English-speaking children flows adds to its poignancy. On "Running," he deals with these complicated and inescapable relationships with grace, setting his musings to a piano melody that's as warm and effortless as a sunbeam. The album's discourse includes not just the character's in Lange's songs, but Helado Negro's entire body of work. Along with shades of Private Energy, This Is How You Smile evokes the shadowy intimacy of Canta Lechuza and, on "Seen My Aura," the distant, sunny childhood memories of Double Youth. As always, the ambient side of Helado Negro's music is just as eloquent as Lange's songwriting, and interludes such as "Sabana de Luz" and the festive sounds of "My Real Name Is for My Friends" add to the album's hazy, lived-in warmth. While his advice to "take care of people today" on "Two Lucky" is the closest he gets to giving his listeners directives like Kincaid's, the sustenance Lange offers with these songs is more delicate than Private Energy's anthems, but just as necessary. A winning combination of his long-standing and more recently developed gifts, This Is How You Smile is a culmination of Helado Negro's work and completely relevant to when it was released. © Heather Phares /TiVo

After its smash single "Ahora Me Llama" with Bad Bunny, Unstoppable lands as the first album by Colombian pop artist Karol G. Debuting in the top spot on the Latin Albums sales chart and at number two on the Latin Rhythms chart, the album is a manifesto of sorts that women don't have to merely be singers in the Latin pop arena or be restricted to dancefloor or arena pop. This album throws down with reggaeton and, as evidenced by its single, is the first solid entry by a woman in the Latin trap movement.© TiVo

On 2005's CORAZON LIBRE, the beloved Argentine vocalist Mercedes Sosa offers up beautifully spare songs that mostly originate from the northeastern region of her native land. The minimal instrumental backing--mainly consisting of acoustic guitar and light percussion--is ideal here, since it allows the focus to remain on Sosa's achingly gorgeous voice, which masterfully conveys a wide range of emotions. Renowned for her social conscience, Sosa uses her dynamic singing to relate tales of poverty ("Los Ninos de Nuestro Olvido"), celebration ("Solo pa' Bailarla"), strife ("Sufrida Tierra") and liberation (the title track). Decades into her remarkable career, Sosa's voice and spirit remain in fine form, a point proven by this subtle, outstanding album.© TiVo