A Big, Wide World of Music
Lura, M’bem di Fora (Times Square)
- By Jon Pareles

Lura was born in Portugal but embraced the music of her parents, who are from the Cape Verde islands off the coast of Senegal. The irresistible songs on “M’bem di Fora” (the title means “I’ve come from far away”) envision life on the islands and as a homesick expatriate. They draw on Cape Verdean rhythms, particularly the brisk, six-beat rhythm of the funaná.

Lighter-than-air acoustic guitars, percussion and an occasional accordion carry her through songs that hint at the islands’ problems — the poverty that causes so many Cape Verdeans to emigrate — but dance through them.