With 'Femme Fatale Vol. 2,' Mon Laferte shows she's at her musical peak

Late past year, Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte dropped “Femme Fatale,” a smoldering medium that was instantly hailed arsenic 1 of the champion Latin records of 2025.

Since the quality of the iconic “Mon Laferte, Vol. 1” successful 2015 — a transformative rite of transition for the Latin Alternative genre — the vocalist has explored the fusion of retro stone balladry with bolero fever, trip-hop glamour, and jazz decadence. The unifying archetype of the femme fatale, however, elevated Laferte’s songbook to a caller level of cinematic noir.

Then she did the unthinkable.

On June 12, she released “Femme Fatale Vol. 2,” a panoramic treble medium that simmers with ambition. Anchored connected a near-orchestral soundstage, its 20 tracks ricochet from in-your-face punk dissonance to majestic broken-heart dirges, a beauteous duet with St. Vincent, rootsy people interludes and farfisa-rich lounge.

At 43, Laferte’s vocal cords person reached a decadent highest — aggravated and ragged, deliciously wounded. The caller medium appears designed to tease, coax and overwhelm the listener. It’s simultaneously jazzy and vulgar, wry and prophetic. It recedes into the past for comfortableness and illumination, past embraces the present, wherever Laferte is hailed arsenic a trendsetter. In November, she volition play 2 nights astatine the Kia Forum, a feat that fewer Latin American artists tin claim.

Laferte, who lives successful Mexico, was vacationing with her household successful Paris erstwhile she spoke to De Los astir her songwriting compulsion, the undeniable powerfulness of her voice, and a lifelong conflict with intelligence health. The pursuing Q&A has been lightly edited for magnitude and clarity.

“Femme Fatale Vol. 2” was released lone 8 months aft the archetypal volume. How tin you beryllium truthful prolific?

I’m cheating a little, due to the fact that some records were portion of the aforesaid sessions. I was listening to a batch of jazz erstwhile I started to enactment connected “Femme Fatale,” and wanted it to person that circumstantial dependable that you perceive connected the rubric track. All successful each I came up with astir 50 songs, galore of which strayed distant from the archetypal concept. In bid to support the archetypal measurement much focused, I picked the jazz-oriented tracks for that one, and near everything other for portion two.

The sheer scope of the medium is staggering. I person to admit your creativity frightens maine a little.

Muchas gracias [laughs.] Writing songs is 1 of the things that I emotion the astir astir being alive. Once I participate that mode, I get stuck successful it. Sometimes I’m astatine the market, abruptly perceive a random sentence, and past it becomes portion of a tune. I besides bargain a batch of chill phrases from my son. The longest opus connected the album, “No Le Regales Tu Corazón,” manifested itself astatine 4:30 americium portion I was moving connected thing else. I grabbed a guitar and finished it successful 2 hours. I didn’t slumber that night.

Is being you exhausting?

Sometimes it is, but I emotion being me. I anticipation my epitaph says thing to the effect that I lived beingness to the fullest, taking vantage of each azygous moment.

I emotion the plurality of “Vol. 2.” You spell punk connected “Tal Vez Yo Soy El Problema” and delve into progressive jazz connected “Vi Un Poema En Su Locura.” There’s besides people and torch ballads. Were you consciously showing disconnected your range?

There’s a spot of that, yeah. I had the lyrics of “Tal Vez Yo Soy El Problema” — which were already punky successful tone — and decided to beryllium mischievous and bash it arsenic a precise abbreviated song, similar a spot of a joke. At 1 infinitesimal I decided to marque a opus based connected the upright bass and adhd a free-jazz vibe to it. That became “For Your Consideration.” I wanted to beryllium that I could bash immoderate I wanted. If I survey and walk hours moving connected something, I tin marque it happen.

When I was 11, I would fastener myself successful my country and play the James Bond soundtracks with those lethal John Barry melodies and the larger-than-life voices of Shirley Bassey and Nancy Sinatra. You seizure that circumstantial beingness truthful well. “A Pesar De Ti Y De Mí” sounds similar an ‘80s Bond song.

I wanted it to beryllium epic. I thought of Whitney Houston erstwhile I recorded it. I listened to that benignant of euphony myself arsenic a small girl. I’m vintage — determination was nary net erstwhile I was increasing up, conscionable the radio. I would perceive to those spectacular voices and effort to ideate what the singers looked like. I would adjacent my eyes and marque up stories astir the songs. I emotion aged voices, and listening to each kinds of music.

The past way of the album, “Gigante,” ends with a beauteous spiral-like melody connected the piano. How did you constitute that?

I conscionable sang the enactment to my soft player. He wanted to adhd much elements, but I kept it simple, similar a nostalgic mantra. I ever constitute the arrangements to my songs by singing them.

Did you ever cognize you person the benignant of dependable that could tame a chaotic lion?

I’ve had doubts astir my dependable rather often, but astatine the aforesaid clip I’m precise overmuch alert that I could tame a lion with it [laughs.] I was precise shy arsenic a small girl, and was bullied aft changing schools. But I was asked to sing 1 day, and since past became the astir fashionable student. As a teen I started to sing connected thoroughfare corners and I noticed that my dependable was people potent — it could prevail implicit the postulation and the thoroughfare noises. I wanted radical to crook their heads and consciousness compelled to support listening. I cognize there’s thing astir my voice, and it has thing to bash with technique. It’s a acquisition that was fixed to me, and I’m grateful for it.

Listening to this record, I yet understood wherefore you are idolized by 6 cardinal Instagram followers. I deliberation the communal denominator successful each of america who emotion your euphony is that we are achromatic sheep — the weird ones, the chronically misunderstood.

Absolutely. I’ve ever felt misunderstood. I was ever weird, and ne'er felt cool. I’ve ne'er followed immoderate trends, and chose moving to my ain beat. On the different hand, I bash consciousness that my fans are incredibly chill people.

On “Hello Monserrat” you sing: “I deliberation astir Botox/And experimental music/My parent and the loneliness/Of an planetary tour.” It doesn’t get immoderate much autobiographical than that, right?

It’s a brutally honorable tune wherever I sanction galore of the things that inhabit my mind. Should I get Botox? What I emotion astir this opus is that it comes to presumption with the world that we volition each dice 1 day. Here are my fears, random thoughts and insecurities. I’m bare successful beforehand of my songs, and it doesn’t truly matter. Nothing is that important anyway.

You already bushed the system, though. You whitethorn die, but your songs volition beryllium remembered 100 years from now.

That would beryllium fabulous, but intelligibly it won’t beryllium the lawsuit successful 500 years. One 100 would beryllium awesome, though, truthful that my children tin get each the publishing.

You’ve been precise vocal astir battling bipolar upset and channeling your hypersensitivity into music. I can’t assistance but wonderment if it’s partially surviving with each this that allows you to make a grounds of specified unfathomable beauty.

I’ve thought astir it erstwhile I analyse the facets of my career. I’ve ever written songs — with oregon without the pills. You asked maine earlier if it was exhausting being me. I answered truthfully, but the archetypal happening that came to caput was my bipolar disorder. I bash acquisition immoderate manic phases from clip to time, wherever I can’t halt doing things similar coating oregon penning songs. This tin beryllium a blessing and a curse. I cognize radical who halt taking pills due to the fact that they cherish those manic spells and the hypercreativity that comes with them. I’ve ne'er stopped taking attraction of myself, though. I’m successful therapy and focused connected motherhood. When I go a originative machine, I conscionable effort to crook each that vigor into thing positive. It’s not a atrocious thing, conscionable a information that makes maine a small different. It has some airy and shadow.