David Byrne and Natalia Lafourcade join their voices in “What is the reason?”a cumbia produced by Mexican Institute of Sound which comes accompanied by the announcement of three dates by the American musician in Mexico this summer.
The song is a Spanish version of “What Is the Reason for It?”, the song from Byrne’s most recent album, Who Is The Sky?. In the original, the female voice belongs to Hayley Williams; In this new version, Lafourcade, in addition to singing, also wrote his own lyrics for the verses in Spanish, without translating the text from English.
The project was born from an observation that several listeners made when listening to the arrangement of Ghost Train Orchestra: that the song “has a Mexican rhythm.” Byrne then contacted Camilo Lara, founder of the Mexican Institute of Sound, whom he has known for years, to make a remix. The result is a cumbia with metals that Lara built from that collective intuition.
Byrne explained on his social networks the origin of the chosen genre: “Cumbia is a rhythm that was born in the Afro-Colombian community and later expanded and transformed throughout Latin America; it is impossible not to dance when it plays.” The musician added that he and his band had recently seen a cumbia band in New Orleans.
The choice of the Mexican singer was not coincidental. Byrne described her as one of your favorite artists in the world and he said that he had the opportunity to accompany her in her concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. It was from that meeting that he proposed to participate in the project.
Lafourcade accepted and went beyond what was asked of him: instead of translating the verses from English, he composed completely new lyrics in Spanish. “Beautiful. Another dream come true!”Byrne wrote when announcing the release.
The launch coincides with the announcement of a series of presentations in Mexico. Byrne will perform in the Metropolitan Theater of Mexico City, the Telmex Auditorium of Guadalajara and the GNP scenario of Montereyall scheduled for this summer.
The tour comes after a season of live performances that included a performance at the Coachella festival and was received as one of the musical events of the year.
- Mexico City: Metropolitan Theater September 4 and 5
- Guadalajara: Telmex Auditorium September 8
- Monterrey: GNP Seguros Scenario September 10
