Lhasa

Sometimes I wonder how things slip by me, like the January release from Lhasa de Sela, The Living Road. I came across the Lhasa audio player just clicking around, and immediately wondered how I missed something this good. It wasn't all that quietly released--there were reviews from the BBC and the Guardian. It makes me wonder...what else did I miss??

It's her second release, a follow-up to her 1997(!) debut, La Llorana. Her voice reminds me of Nico, but she sounds sexy and mysterious, rather then learned and cold, especially when singing in French or Spanish. Not to say that she doesn't sound cool; her spare, ghostly songs would be right at home in any Tarantino film. Her lyrics are as poetic as the Velvet Underground's. From Anywhere On This Road: My heart is breaking / I cannot sleep / I love a man / who's afraid of me / he believes if he doesn't / stand guard with a knife / I'll make him my slave / for the rest of his life (lyrics from a rootsworld interview).

Here's para el fin, an mp3 from her site at Impresaria.