La canción de la semana #1018

...is Mal de Amores by Lila Downs, from her new album, Cambias Mi Mundo.

La canción de la semana #1015

...is Mi Gran Amor composed by Édgar Barrera and performed by Santana and Becky G. In the interview with Billboard, Barrera said that he wrote the song "after learning that a friend had been detained by ICE".

migra f. coloq. Méx. Cuerpo de la Policía de inmigración de los Estados Unidos de América.

La canción de la semana #993

Wow I am impressed: Rosalía's Lux made it to No. 1 (!) in The Guardian's list of the 50 best — mostly anglophone — albums of 2025. Mostly — but not completely. At No. 8 we encounter Bad Bunny with Debí Tirar Más Fotos. More interestingly, at No. 24 there is gloriously experimental Hagen by Titanic, a duo of Mabe Fratti and Héctor Tosta aka I. La Católica. Good choice, The Guardian. So, the last song of the year is, IMHO, the best song of the album, La Dueña. See you in 2026!

La canción de la semana #986

...is La Huella del Códice, based on works by Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739) and performed by Berta Rojas with Evangelina Mascardi and Lincoln Almada. This composition appears on the Paraguayan guitarist's new album, La Huella de las Cuerdas. And if you have 33 minutes to spare, watch the "making of" documentary by the same name.

Berta Rojas: guitar Evangelina Mascardi: vihuela / baroque guitar Lincoln Almada: percussion

La canción de la semana #983

Adrian Quesada's recent (30 September 2025) 'El Tiny' Desk Concert features four gorgeous boleros performed by four incredible vocalists. It was a tough choice but in the end I chose Tus Tormentas sung and played by Mireya Ramos of Flor de Toloache. This song appears on Quesada's 2022 album Boleros Psicodélicos.

Adrian Quesada: guitar Mireya Ramos: vocals, violin Joshy Soul: keys Ismael Cancel: congas, shakers Terin Ector: bass Jay Mumford: drums Kiku Enomoto: violin Andrew Griffin: viola Allison Seidner: cello

La canción de la semana #974

...is Danzón n.º 2 by Arturo Márquez, as interpreted by the great Yuja Wang.

La canción de la semana #967

...is Me Retiro by Grupo Frontera and Santana!

La canción de la semana #964

...is Zunzun Baba by Rita Donte, from the Cuba-born, Mexico-based singer-songwriter's 2025 album Ritual.

La canción de la semana #962

...is El Errante by El Balcón, from the Montreal-based band's album of the same name.

La canción de la semana #958

...is Mascaritas de Cristal by Natalia Lafourcade. This song appears on her gorgeous new album Cancionera.

La canción de la semana #946

Cuando vuelva a tu lado was written in 1934 by María Grever. Its English version, What a Difference a Day Makes, with lyrics by Stanley Adams, was made famous by Dinah Washington in 1959. It was covered countless times; this week, we have this song performed by Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso in both English and Spanish.

Lucía: vocal Felipe Fournier: percussion Larry Grenadier: bass Juancho Herrera: guitar Antonio Sanchez: drums Edward Simon: piano

La canción de la semana #932

...is Ay Que Dolor (1971) by Estrellas De Plata.

La canción de la semana #918

Ten years after Raíz, Lila Downs, Niña Pastori and Soledad Pastorutti are back cooking together! This week's song, Tan Bonita, opens their new EP Raíz Nunca Me Fui.

La canción de la semana #901

...is Rata de dos patas, probably the most famous ranchera performed by Francisca Viveros Barradas, better known as Paquita la del Barrio. The composer Manuel Eduardo Toscano said that, although Paquita asked him for a vehicle to vent resentment towards her ex-husband, the true inspiration behind the song was ex-president of Mexico, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. In any case, I don't know a more elegant way to heap a series of delicious insults on an unworthy ex. Check out the lyrics here.

La canción de la semana #897

...is La farsante by Juan Gabriel. This version (which probably should be called El farsante) was performed by Fabiola Trujillo last Saturday in her new show «Con alma mexicana» in Parque Doramas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

La canción de la semana #890

...is Amantes Suicidas by Mon Laferte, from her stunning 2023 album Autopoiética.

La canción de la semana #872

...is Frágil by Yahritza y su Esencia and Grupo Frontera. An alternative version of this song is closing Yahritza's recent Tiny Desk Concert.

La canción de la semana #868

A ver, a ver... A Mover la Colita was composed by Miguel Orlando Iacopetti and Luis Alberto Sarmiento and made famous in the 1980s by the likes of La Sonora Dinamita and Wilfrido Vargas. My favourite version is the one by the Ecuadorian band Onda Latina. How did I live all these years and haven't heard this song until now — more precisely, until last month thanks to the French company Le G. Bistaki who used it in their show «Baïna[na]» — is a mystery.

La canción de la semana #860

...is La Lloroncita (Mexican son jarocho) performed by Diana Baroni. This song appears on the Argentine singer and musician's new album Mujeres.

Diana Baroni: vocal Ronald Martin Alonso: viola da gamba Rafael Guel Frias: baroque guitar

La canción de la semana #858

...is Desde El Cielo by the Guatemalan cellist, singer and songwriter Mabe Fratti, now based in Mexico. This song is taken from her magnificent Live on KEXP performance at El Desierto Casa Estudio, Desierto de Los Leones, Mexico on 15 March 2023.

Mabe Fratti: vocals, cello I. La Católica: guitar Jarrett Gilgore: saxophone Gibrán Andrade: drums