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**Natalia Lafourcade - Hasta La Raíz**
★★★★☆

There's something profoundly moving about an artist discovering their true voice, and on *Hasta La Raíz*, Natalia Lafourcade doesn't just find hers—she plants it deep in Mexican soil and lets it bloom into something magnificent. This 2015 masterpiece arrived at a pivotal moment for the Veracruz-born singer-songwriter, who had spent the better part of a decade navigating the choppy waters between commercial pop success and artistic authenticity. The death of her beloved grandmother proved to be the catalyst that sent Lafourcade spiraling back to her roots, quite literally, resulting in an album that feels like both a homecoming and a revelation.

Following the lukewarm reception of her previous efforts, which saw her flirting with mainstream Latin pop, Lafourcade made the bold decision to strip everything back. She relocated from Mexico City to her family's ancestral home in Veracruz, immersing herself in the folk traditions that had been calling to her like distant church bells. The result is an album that breathes with the authenticity of someone who has finally stopped trying to be what others expect and started being exactly who she is.

Musically, *Hasta La Raíz* is a love letter to Mexican folk traditions, wrapped in the gentle embrace of contemporary songcraft. Lafourcade weaves together bolero, ranchera, and nueva canción with the delicate touch of a master craftsperson, creating something that feels both timeless and urgently contemporary. The production, handled with remarkable restraint by Lafourcade herself alongside Leonel García, allows every guitar string to ring with purpose, every vocal inflection to carry weight.

The title track stands as the album's emotional centerpiece, a gorgeous meditation on love and belonging that builds from whispered intimacy to soaring declaration. Lafourcade's voice—always technically proficient—here discovers new depths of expression, moving from vulnerable confession to triumphant affirmation with breathtaking ease. "Nunca Es Suficiente" showcases her ability to transform heartbreak into something beautiful, while "Mi Lugar Favorito" feels like a warm embrace from an old friend, complete with gentle acoustic guitar work that recalls the great Mexican troubadours of yesteryear.

"Lo Que Construimos" demonstrates Lafourcade's gift for melody, crafting a song that lodges itself in your consciousness and refuses to leave. The interplay between her voice and the traditional instrumentation—requinto, guitarrón, and subtle percussion—creates a sonic landscape that feels both intimate and expansive. Meanwhile, "Para Qué Sufrir" strips things down to their essence, proving that sometimes the most powerful moments come from the simplest arrangements.

The album's greatest strength lies in its emotional honesty. This isn't music designed to impress with technical virtuosity or shock with bold experimentation. Instead, Lafourcade has created something far more valuable: a collection of songs that feel like they've always existed, waiting patiently for the right person to discover them. Her decision to embrace her Mexican heritage completely, singing entirely in Spanish and drawing from deep folk traditions, gives the album a sense of place that's increasingly rare in our globalized musical landscape.

*Hasta La Raíz* proved to be Lafourcade's commercial and critical breakthrough, earning her a Latin Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and establishing her as one of Mexico's most important contemporary voices. More importantly, it opened the door for her subsequent explorations of Mexican folk music, including her acclaimed *Musas* series, which saw her collaborating with legendary figures like Los Macorinos and Omara Portuondo.

The album's legacy extends far beyond its immediate success. In an era when Latin music was increasingly dominated by urban genres and crossover ambitions, Lafourcade's decision to dig deeper into tradition rather than chase trends proved prophetic. She demonstrated that there was still an audience hungry for music that honored the past while speaking to the present, paving the way for a new generation of artists to explore their own cultural roots without apology.

*Hasta La Raíz* stands as a testament to the power of authenticity in an industry often obsessed with artifice. It's an album that reveals new layers with each listen, a collection of songs that feel like old friends you're meeting for the first time. In finding her roots, Natalia Lafourcade created something universal—proof that the most personal art often speaks to the wi