A Night in Nepantla. an earworm of musical tradition and the future
I am sitting at my table listening to easter church bells from the iglesia parroquial in the village and “Nepantla” from Las Cafeteras’ new album A Night in Nepantla.- the “space between two worlds”, as described by the cultural theorist Gloria Anzaldúa. And this is exactly what the album, and the band, is about – the cultural space and the constant moving between the traditions of Mexico and their US home.
A Night in Nepantla. ranges from cumbia, to a sweet Son Jarocho arpa (harp) to rap, to echoing melodic lyrics, to the complex Huastecan rhythms and the tapestry created with the jarana, requinto, leona, and arpa – all carefully produced with the lightest of touch production effects. Their music may echo an earlier time, but the production is full 21st century with electrified traditional instruments.
The album, which is all Spanish except one song and some rap lyrics in two others, kicks off with “Cumbia in Mi Barrio”, a cumbia like you have never heard before- almost spooky with Hector Flores talking directly to us in his deep, out of this world voice.
In “Esta Noche”, the muheres dominate with Denise Carlos’ distinctive bell-clear and very personal vocals over the requinto and percussion punctuated by a hooky chorus. From there we move to “ElCamino” performed by Las Cafeteras, QVLN, and Xocoyotzin Moraza, a blend of joyful Son Jarocho, fun rap in English and a earworm melody and chorus that say I’m having fun.
“Caravana” with Latin Grammy-nominee Amalia Mondragon is a danceable, storytelling happy combination of a chorus, requinto, foot-tapping beats and the deep conversational vocals Las Caf is famous for. This one will stick in your head.
“Vivos Nos Queremos” (We Want to Live) with Las Cafeteras, Grammy-nominated Alih Jey and Jazmine Lopez pulls your heartstrings and hits you in the gut with its urgency and power. A cry for freedom, dignity and life. Wow.
“More of You”, the one English song on the album moves along lyrics of love with a deep acoustic guitar, whistling, and gentle heart. It will make you sway and hit replay.
“Morena Morena” (Brown Brown) my favorite song on the album, features a wonderful contrast between the feminine vocals in Spanish and the male vocals in English accented with a flute, and motivated with the percussion of the quijada de burro (donkey jawbone).
“Tia Lucha” with Jazmine Lopez starts out with violins and moves to rock-infused 4/4 beat and swoops and soars and talks and musically moonwalks through your ears while it bundles your nerve endings together for pure pleasure. Complex, straightforward, addictive. This is Las Caf at its experimental best.
“Nepantla” wraps up the album, with its aching lyrics of straddling two worlds and not being fully in either one. The beat is hypnotic, the lyrics pull at your heart, even if you don’t get the Spanish, you know what they are saying. The whole bands sings on this one, a group cry for a home, a world of their own.
Night in Nepantla is exotic, familiar, friendly, welcoming, passionate, urgent – all the qualities that La Cafeteras has been bringing to music since 2008. There combination of the traditional and the modern, the romantic and activist are unique and always fun and welcome. Stream Night in Nepantla on all major platforms.
Patrick O’Heffernan
