Y La Bamba returns with a resilient new single, “Dibujos De Mi Alma,” to announce the April 28 release of Lucha (Tender Loving Empire).  

“This song was written for a romantic partner right before the shutdown in 2020,” says Y La Bamba lead vocalist and producer Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos of the track. “It’s a song of longing for this person but at the same time trying to detach myself from the unhealthy parts of connection.” 

Y La Bamba also announced a Spring tour that kicks off with an ‘Album Release Show’ in Portland, OR on April 26, running across the country and back hitting Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, DC, Chicago and more before ending on May 23 in Denver. Tickets are on sale now at ylabambamusic. Enjoy / Share “Dibujos De Mi Alma” HERE + pre-order Lucha HERE.

To declare one thematic narrative from Lucha, Y La Bamba’s seventh album, would be to chisel away a story within a story within a story into the illusion of something singular. “Lucha is a symbol of how hard it is for me to tackle healing, live life, and be present,” Mendoza Ramos says of the title behind the album which translates from Spanish to English as ‘fight’ and is also a nickname for Luz, which means light. The album explores multiplicity—love, queerness, Mexican American and Chicanx identity, family, intimacy, yearning, loneliness—and chronicles a period of struggle and growth for Mendoza Ramos as a person and artist.

Lucha was born out of isolation at the advent of COVID-19 lockdowns, beginning with a cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and following Mendoza Ramos as she moved from Portland, Oregon to Mexico City, returning to her parents’ home country while revisiting a lineage marred by violence and silence, and simultaneously reaching towards deeper relationships with loved ones and herself. The album reflects “another tier of facing vulnerability,” as Mendoza Ramos explains, and is a battle cry to fight in order to be seen and to be accepted, if not celebrated, in every form—anger and compassion, externally and internally, individually and societally. As much as la lucha is about inner work, fighting is borne from survival stemming from social structures designed to uplift dominant groups at the hands of suffering amongst the marginalized.

While peeling back layers of the past to better understand the present has been integral to this period of growth for Mendoza Ramos, time, trauma, and history can feel like interconnected, abysmal loops and music has remained a trusted space for Mendoza Ramos to process, experiment, and channel her learnings into a creative practice. In this way, Lucha has become cyclical, documenting the parallel trust Mendoza Ramos has built with herself to allow the songs to guide how they should be sung, or even sound.

“I’ve been wanting to let whatever feels natural—with rhythm and musical instruments like congas and singing—to just let it be, in the way that I’m trying to invoke in myself.” Lucha reflects on, “the continuing process of learning how to exercise my producing skills,” explains Mendoza Ramos. “I have so many words, ideas to work with all the time, and the hardest part for me has been learning to trust my gut. And figuring out how I work best, and with who.”

The result is a collection as sonically sprawling and bold as its subject matter. On “La Lluvia de Guadalajara,” Y La Bamba leans into a minimal, avant-garde soundscape as Mendoza Ramos recites a spoken word poem. “Nunca” is a warm, wind-rich track dedicated to her mother, Maria Elena Ramos whose poetry is published alongside the Lucha lyrics booklet. “I decided to put my mom’s poem, which is a poem that she wrote to me, letting me know how she felt, exploring her heart in new ways she’s never imagined.  Sharing it on the record is me paying attention that she’s expressing herself.”

While each song holds personal significance to Mendoza Ramos, part of growing into her identity as an artist has been allowing space for protection and boundaries, and choosing to withhold some of that meaning from the public. Lucha is her own story of the complexity of trauma and nonlinear healing and growth processes, but she imagines it is also the continuation of her ancestors’ stories and might also be a mirror to the story of others. 

“Even though I’m trying to fight, I never want to demonize suffering, because that’s part of growing. And it’s hard, because we’re living in times where that [stigma] is what’s happening. So if this—me talking about my mental health and finding healing in my queerness—is a risk, I hope that I find a community that protects it and protects me, because they know I have their back. I am also trying to be my mom’s community.”

Y La Bamba Tour Dates

April 26 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom (Album Release Show)

April 27 – Seattle, WA – Barboza

April 29 – Sacramento, CA – Starlet Room

April 30 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel

May 02 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room

May 03 – Santa Barbara, CA – SoHo

May 04 – San Diego, CA – Casbah

May 05 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar

May 06 – Santa Fe, NM – El Rey Court

May 07 – Albuquerque, NM – Fusion 708

May 09 – Dallas, TX – Tulips

May 11 – McAllen, TX –Gremlin

May 12 – San Antonio, TX – Jaime’s Place

May 13 – Austin, TX – The Ballroom

May 16 – Washington, DC – Songbyrd

May 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s

May 20 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle

May 21 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Entry

May 23 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater