I’ve been obsessed with Hurray for the Riff Raff for years, in love with their bluesy bayou folk and with frontwoman Alynda Segarra’s brilliant songwriting. But in the indie folk band’s newest album, The Navigator (2017), Segarra draws on Puerto Rican protest music too. The Navigator is a political concept album about a Nuyorican girl (quite like Segarra) named Navita Milagros Negrón who learns about her ancestral history and develops a resistant consciousness. She sings about gentrification, genocide, and gender politics.
My current Song of the Moment, “Nothing’s Gonna Change That Girl,” is a danceable, defiant ballad with Segarra’s characteristic illustrious strumming and unforgettable voice. Listen for my favorite part, the shift in mood and tempo at the bridge.
