Y La Bamba’s latest release, Mujeres, weaves a complicated and beautiful story. Each song situates you in a space both abstract and defined. There, you and Mendoza are free to explore. As you go through the album, it expands and contracts and expands again. The limitations of memory, diving into raw and vulnerable identities, and re-imagining histories: Mujeres tackles all of these and more. In exploring her relationship to her Mexican heritage and background, Mendoza forges new spaces and histories. She challenges her audience to do the same with their own narratives. She deftly pucks your heart out of your chest and asks you to see it in a new light.
Of course, this story would be inaccessible if the narrator wasn’t so dextrous and intuitive. Mendoza’s voice is at it’s strongest that we’ve seen thus far. Atmospheric and resolute, she turns each song into something that’s strikingly tangible. You can feel her hands shaping the music, akin to a potter sculpting clay. In “Perder” she sings in long, slow waves, only to end the song with hushed, repetitive muttering. The muttering continues on to the next song “Mujeres” and blends the two together. It’s masterful manipulation. It would be surprising if someone doesn’t get goosebumps while listening to Mujeres.
-By Avril Carrillo