Rock Latino: Natalia LaFourcade

Perky singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Natalia Lafourcade came out of nowhere in 2003 with this chirpy yet surprisingly self-assured debut. Primarily produced by Loris Ceroni, who'd also worked with the substantially harder-rocking Alejandra Guzmán, the album nevertheless reflects Lafourcade's sensibility throughout. Songs combine acoustic guitar and a strong bossa nova influence with dashes of turntable, electronic beats, and textural sound effects like vinyl crackle. "Mango" starts off lilting, but an almost drum'n'bass rhythm comes in quickly, injecting a strong groove that battles for supremacy with the gentle vocal and vibes; the effect is somewhat similar to recordings by Lamb or other trip-hop groups, but with an essential happiness that's missing from those efforts. "Otra Vez" finds her crooning over a hip-hop backing track not unlike those created by Digable Planets or some neo-soul musicians. "Te Quiero Dar," by contrast, is a rocking song with amped-up guitars that points the way toward the band, Natalia y la Forquetina, she formed for her second album. Lafourcade's voice is occasionally girlish, but just as often that of a young woman who knows exactly what she's after and is far from a tool of her producers (unlike the majority of pop stars in any country). Indeed, she quickly garnered a reputation as a unique and capable artist among her peers — she did many of the arrangements and performed in the band on Julieta Venegas' MTV Unplugged concert in 2008.