Natalia Lafourcade

As assured a debut as you could hope to find from a 19-year-old singer-songwriter. Lafourcade's genius on the album was to be just weird enough to distinguish herself without losing the accessible edge that drove it to the top of the charts. Dance beats and hooky choruses, however, couldn't disguise the lounge-y pleasure of "Mango," "Te Quiero Dar" or even the big hit, "En El 2000." It's not always the case that pop means quality, but in this album's case, the two words were nearly synonymous.