Lala Belu

Lala Belu
Studio album by Hailu Mergia
Released	February 23, 2018 (2018-02-23)
Genre	Jazz[1] funk[2]
Length	39:25
Label	Awesome Tapes From Africa
Hailu Mergia chronology
Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument (2013) Lala Belu (2018) Yene Mircha (2020)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.2/10[3]
Metacritic	81/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Guardian	[5]
Pitchfork	8/10[6]

Lala Belu is the second studio album by Ethiopian singer-songwriter Hailu Mergia. It was released on 23 February 2018 under Awesome Tapes From Africa.^[7]

Release

On 22 November 2017, Mergia announced his first album in 15 years, along with the single "Gum Gum".^[8]

Critical reception

Lala Belu was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 12 reviews.^[4] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 73 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 7 reviews.^[1] At AnyDecentMusic?, the release was rated 7.2 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.^[3]

Timothy Monger of AllMusic described the album as a "lovely and deeply creative record", while explaining "touching on myriad emotions throughout its six tracks, the album is bright and joyful at times and occasionally funky while frequently veering into the more cerebral and introspective territory that marked his early solo years."^[2]

Accolades

Accolades for Lala Belu

Publication	Accolade	Rank
AllMusic	AllMusic's Favourite Latin and World Albums	N/A[9]
Mojo	Mojo's Top 75 Albums of 2018	72[10]
Passion of the Weiss	Passion of the Weiss' Top 50 Albums of 2018	42[11]
Pitchfork	Pitchfork's 200 Best Albums of the Decade (2010s)	185[12]
The Wire	The Wire's Top 50 Albums of 2018	29[13]

Track listing

Lala Belu track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tizita"	10:00
2.	"Addis Nat"	4:34
3.	"Gum Gum"	6:47
4.	"Anchihoye Lene"	7:06
5.	"Lala Belu"	4:42
6.	"Yefikir Engurguro"	6:15

Personnel

Musicians Hailu Mergia – primary artist, producer Tony Buck – drums Mike Majkowski – bass

Production Javon Gant – engineer Jessica Thompson – mastering

References

1. "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
2. Monger, Timothy. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
3. "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
4. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
5. Huthcinson, Kate (23 February 2018). "Lala Belu review – African accordion star still an original". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
6. Monroe, Jazz (24 February 2018). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
7. Helfet, Gabriela (22 November 2017). "Awesome Tapes From Africa to release Hailu Mergia's new Ethiopian jazz album". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
8. Coultate, Aaron (23 November 2017). "Hailu Mergia's first new album in 15 years coming on Awesome Tapes From Africa". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
9. "Favorite Latin and World Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
10. "Mojo's Best Albums of 2018". Mojo. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
11. "The POW Best Albums of 2018". Passion of the Weiss. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
12. "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
13. "The Wire's Releases of the Year 2018". Album of the Year. Retrieved 15 October 2020.