MP3: Y La Bamba - "Juniper"

Portland’s indie folk band, Y La Bamba, fronted by the prolific Luz Elena Mendoza, has created yet another visionary piece with their latest, “Juniper.” The song, about Mendoza losing her Catholic faith, is a poignant and haunting tale told in Mendoza’s heart-wrenching voice. Loss of faith is such a powerful, life-altering experience because it literally changes everything. It is difficult to do justice to such a deeply transformative event, but Y La Bamba does, and beautifully so. In just the first few lines (“My temple has been compromised/ I was meant to rise/ six feet above my bed”) you are already shaken to your core by the raw emotion of the lyrics and vocals. And it only builds from there, so that at the end you have to remember to exhale.

“Juniper” is off of Y La Bamba’s latest album, Lupon, produced by Chris Funk of The Decemberists and due out September 28.

♫♫♫ "Juniper"

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