"Blessed with striking looks, a husky contralto and an intense, theatrical stage presence, she mesmerized audiences with her dream-like, tangentially biographical songs." - The Independent

Lhasa de Sela was a truly unique singer and performer. With her deep and impassioned voice, it's hard to hear her music and not be pulled in to listen more closely. Her dexterity with a myriad of languages and styles made her music hard to categorize, but also accessible to a wide range of listeners.

Born in upstate New York to a Mexican father and American mother, her first decade was spent criss-crossing the United States and Mexico, living and traveling in a converted school bus with her parents and siblings. Once setting her mind on a musical career, she sang and recorded in English, Spanish and French, drawing on influences including Mexican ranchera, French chanson, Gypsy folk music, rock, country, gospel and blues. Lhasa was often compared to influential artists including Tom Waits, Edith Piaf, and Nick Cave, and she experienced a short, but excited period of broad acclaim before her untimely passing in 2010 from breast cancer (she was only 37 years old).

Her first album, entitled La Llorona, included a few magical numbers including De cara a la pared:

De cara a la pared

Llorando
de cara a la pared
se apaga la ciudad

Llorando
Y no hay más
muero quizás
Adonde estás?

Soñando
de cara a la pared
se quema la ciudad

Soñando
sin respirar
te quiero amar
te quiero amar

Rezando
de cara a la pared
se hunde la ciudad

Rezando
Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Santa Maria

Muriendo

Face to the wall

Crying
face to the wall
the city turns off

Crying
And there is no more
maybe I'm dead
Where are you?

Dreaming
face to the wall
the city burns

Dreaming
without breathing
I want to love you
I want to love you

Praying
face to the wall
the city smells

Praying
Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Santa Maria

Dying

In a powerful and poignant interview with NPR more than a decade before hear death, Lhasa spoke of her own influences and poetic dilemma, and perhaps foreshadowed her own fate:

"My father had shown me an Aztec poem and Aztec poetry is all about this conflict that the heart goes through because of loving life and knowing life is so beautiful, but knowing that we are not immortal."

Full interview below.