[.ca] Living Road

Amazon.ca:
Étouffée par l'immense succès de La Llorona, son premier album écoulé à plus de 410 000 exemplaires, Lhasa de Sela s'est éclipsée du monde de la chanson durant plus de quatre ans. L'absence, bien que longue, n'aura pas été vaine. L'artiste, en effet, refait surface avec un deuxième disque immensément riche, qui évite l'écueil de la redite. Aventure personnelle s'il en est, The Living Road est l'occasion pour la Québécoise d'adoption de chanter dans les trois langues qu'elle maîtrise - le français, l'anglais et l'espagnol - et d'investir de nouveaux territoires musicaux sans jamais s'éloigner de ses racines “world”. Sa voix grave, aux inflexions mélancoliques, repose ainsi sur des percussions kabyles, des trompettes de mariachi ou des éléments synthétiques. La “route vivante” dont il est question, c'est bien sûr Lhasa. Au fil des chansons, elle fait le récit de sa singulière vie de nomade, faite de rencontres, d'adieux et de retrouvailles. Ses compositions prennent ainsi l'allure de petites îles, établissant leur cohérence par leurs atmosphères (“Soon this place will be too small”), leurs orchestrations touffues (“Anywhere On This Road”) ou dépouillées (“My Name”). Produit de main de maître par François Lalonde et Jean Massicotte, The Living Road n'est pas qu'un album achevé alliant tradition et modernité, c'est une collection de titres incontournables. --Nicolas Houle

An excellent successor to "La Llorona.":
Lhasa de Sela's sound is the unique product of a bohemian upbringing: born in the US to an American actress/photographer mother and Mexican college professor father, the family (including Lhasa's three sisters, three half-sisters and three half-brothers) traveled throughout the USA and Mexico on a bus. At age 13 Lhasa began singing, taking lessons from a jazz singer in San Francisco. Lhasa's influences include Billie Holliday, Chavela Vargas, Tom Waits, Cuco Sanchez, Maria Callas, Victor Jara and Jacques Brel. Lhasa was also influenced by the passing landscapes, the stories and fairytales told by her mother, as well as the Latin, Arab, Eastern European and Asian music she would listen to. In "The Living Road," chanteuse Lhasa builds upon the musical foundations laid on her debut "La Llorona," combining moody vocals with a heavy sprinkling of Latin, klezmer, jazz and world influences. "The Living Road" was written seven years after the release of "La Llorona," after Lhasa had moved from Montréal to France in order to perform with her sisters, who are circus performers. The twelve songs are a mixture of English, French and Spanish lyrics. The unique instrumentation present on her debut makes a reappearance here, with the addition of xylophone, bells, mariachi trumpets, maracas, slide guitar and more. Lhasa's new album is truly a voyage of discovery. Where "La Llorona" centered around the mythical Wailing Woman, "The Living Road" is a metaphor of life as a road. "That's what inspires each of the songs on the album," says Lhasa. "The mysterious force that doesn't let us box ourselves in, that compels us to keep changing. The road is alive, we can't freeze or stop it. And we know can't." My personal favourites include "La frontera," with a very traditional mariachi sound, the repetitive yet addictive "Small Song," "La marée haute," and "Pa' llegar a tu lado," with its melancholy waltzing rhythm and Satie-like piano bassline. The musical mood is somewhere between a torch song, Mexican folk, Spaghetti Western, and circus music. An excellent sophomore album with all the sparkle and wit we've come to expect from Lhasa. This album was nominated as one of Amazon.ca's Top Albums of 2003 by critics and customers alike, and it's easy to hear why.

A Gem From A New and Uncompromising Voice:
Lhasa de Sala is a singular voice. For those who had the good fortune to come across La Llorona, her 1997 debut, this should not be news. As much as this album does not follow her first album to the letter -this is quite more diverse in terms of musical forms, choice of instruments and the fact that it contains songs sung in three languages- it is totally consistent with it. The common thread is in the intangibles: the undaunted exploration of her roots, the words and mood of each song in exquisite consonance, and the devotion to be true to herself as an artist. Given all this, the title of Lhasa's second album could not be more appropriate, these are songs of the "living road," not just a personal "journey" but poems of places and intimate realizations, a soul journal rather than a personal diary. This is the work of a young artist yet infinitely mature, at ease with the truth or perhaps urged to tell it, as revealed in La Frontera ("i am the black point that wanders / on the outskirts of luck") or La Confesion ("I put my most pure thoughts up for sale / I want to forget this whole idea of "truth" / I'll keep as my guides only pleasure and guilt"). In many ways, Lhasa is a daughter of Frieda Kalho, both for her loyalty to be just who she is and, you'd understand this if you've seen Frieda's paintings, because the more profoundly Mexican she turns, the more universal she becomes. If the full price scares you, jump on the marketseller's copies -no shame on saving money to bask on its beauty- and when yours arrives, wait 'til it's late and quiet, and play it. Let the words touch you as warm breezes and the immaculately spare arrangements caress you as memories, provide the night and Lhasa will bring the truth. The road lives, and your life will recognize its turns and joys, Then, you may be ready for tomorrow because "soon this space will be too small / and I'll go outside / to the huge hillside / where the wild wind blows / and the cold stars shine."

Not like the first time:
I'm not quite sure this is the best disc Lhasa could record, it's far from the quality (music, lyrics, arrangements) Lhasa shown us on La Llorona. Anyway, I don't regret buying the disc, but I recommend to anyone ready to buy his first Lhasa disc to start doing it with La Llorona.

A big let down:
Lhasa's La Llorona is the best c.d. I've bought in a long time,I'd put it up there with Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline as one I never tire of.It was full of texture,soul and just great music.I was really excited to find there was a second c.d. by Lhasa,even though it was $27.I happily paid it and waited several weeks for it to arrive.It arrived yesterday and I sat down to listen, and what a let down.I thought, well maybe it has to grow on you so I listened again a couple more times, and it didn't get any better. It's flat, boring and uninspired.It doesn't even come close to La Llorona. I hate to give a bad review especially to an artist that I think is incredible,But this c.d. isn't worth waiting for.

Simply beautiful.:
This is a great cd to own, you'll be listening to Lhasa's heavenly voice, and the mysterious music behind it, over and over again, no matter what kind of music you're into. I can tell you with confidence that The Living Road is one of the best albums I've bought in years, it's full of REAL passion and sensation, something that is hard to find in today's music "business". If your heart is still tender and throbing, you'll deffinatley begin to shiver and resonate with every moment of this music. For those who look for love in "reality TV" ...sorry I have no recomendations. Lhasa, thanks for sharing a part of you with us, I hope we'll be worthy of it...please keep up the good work, you're amazing, you are simply beautiful.

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