Kevin Bronson on July 12th, 2016

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In a recent interview about her songwriting inspirations, Luz Elena Mendoza capsulized them this way: “Life just writes itself.” It’s not that easy, of course; you have to let it, channel it, crystallize it into relatable narratives. Which is what Mendoza has done with alacricity over two albums and two EPs as Y La Bamba. The Portland-based artist recently announced that the new Y La Bamba album, “Ojos Del Sol,” her first release since 2013, would be out Sept. 2. On the album, her “Mexifolk” continues to draw from her heritage: the daughter of Mexican parents, born in San Francisco, reared in southern Oregon, a child of summers spent with her cousins in the San Joaquin Valley, an artist whose work has been informed in part by contracting a near-fatal illness on a trip to India in 2003.

But, she said in a missive to fans on social media, it is her recent growth that propelled the new release. “This has been a journey in healing my spirit, finding my voice as a Mexican American woman, molded by strife and guided by a strong sense of light,” she wrote. “I am thankful for all of the many experiences that I have shared with you all through conversation and exchanging ancestral energies. I feel blessed that I have been supported by my community in a way I never had as a child. … I have struggled with self value, and it has only pushed me to move forward.”

She attributes her maturation to recent collaborations with singer-songwriters Edna Vazquez and Lila Downs, and another with Calexico’s Sergio Mendoza on a 2015 album released as Los Hijos De La Montaña. Y La Bamba’s new single “Ostrich” — named for the flightless bird that, contrary to myth, doesn’t bury its head in the sand but is known for its sharp eyesight and hearing — is all about knowing more and getting better.

||| Stream: “Ostrich”