Y La Bambas lead visionary Luz Elena Mendoza
Y La Bamba's lead visionary Luz Elena Mendoza Christal Angelique

Oh my god, Y La Bamba is so good. So good it’s hard to describe why what they do works so well, but I will try. Today the Portland band dropped their album Mujeres on Tender Loving Empire. The album represents an opening up and exploration of new sounds and possibilities for bandleader Luz Elena Mendoza.

I had a chance to catch up with Mendoza fresh off an extended stay in Mexico, where she spent time in various locations across the country, connecting with the region both her parents are from, Michoacán. On the phone she sounded lovestruck, the type that comes from seeing yourself against a different background, flush with experiences and connections made in the country. "I wrote a lot. I always write and my intention is to keep growing and speaking and meeting with the people and allowing myself to be open and experience things.”

Mujeres plays like something unearthed. Though I wasn't as familiar with the work of Mendoza before this record, there's a raw emotional film that is slathered over the songs. It's easy to plug into and feel a part of. The album encompasses several genres—Latin, rock, psychedelia, folk—but still feels like a coherent project. Each track oozes into the following, unfurling from the one before. The opening song "My Death" rides the gentle blare of a train into "Real Talk." The lazy "Perder" fuzzily bleeds into the raucous "Mujeres." It's one giant train of thought and feeling and experience.

Mendoza's folky, craggy, beautiful vocals serve as the center of gravity in each song. The guitar work, most of which was done by Mendoza, is another constant presence and plays as sound expressed as light through a crystal, then converted back to sound again. "Cuatro Crazy" reminds me of something the great British band Broadcast might have put out—Mendoza floats in one ear, and out the other; the distorted guitar clangs around the interior of the song. It's shimmy-able. "Dieciséis" plays like a prayer. "Mujeres" an answer to one.

"Boca Llena" is a standout track from the album. It's dreamy, bright, and a bit melancholic, ready to receive you and move you. In the psychedelic video, Mendoza does this little dance with her friends—one I try to replicate whenever I listen to this track on the way to work.

Mendoza tells me the album is dedicated to her mother. "I wanted to do the best that I can to reinforce her, and her being on a magic spiritual level," she tells me. "The more I put it out there the more I feel like shit will happen and she will be in a better place. My mom is a beautiful woman—this is for all women who were robbed of choice."

Weather permitting, come celebrate Mendoza and Y La Bamba at Tractor Tavern this Sun., Feb. 10; warm-up from Tres Leches and DJ Lucha.