Lila Downs, the majestically voiced, border-crossing Oaxacan American singer, is touring is support of what could be her pop breakthrough: the powerfully cosmopolitan album “Shake Away.                           
Los Angeles Times
9.05.08

This Oaxaca-born, Minnesota-raised singer dips into Mexican, American and other roots traditions on her eighth album, injecting styles from brassy banda to Scottish folk into the set…the results are as daring as anything by Tom Waits.
Rolling Stone Magazine
9.18.08

Mexican-born Downs humanizes immigration issues with rhythms and aspirations that speak to anyone with a soul.                    
USA Today
9.2.08

Lila Downs’ Shake Away is easily the most polished and refined release since she released Ofrenda in 1994…it is also the most ambitious. In fact, it’s a sprawling set of tunes whose reach is almost limitless. This is the record we’ve been waiting for from Downs; it succeeds on all fronts and deepens her canon immeasurably.
All Music Guide
9.08

“Shake Away” is a collection of socially aware songs that tackle everything from immigration to political justice and transformation. She invited music icon Mercedes Sosa for a duet on the song “Tierra de Luz,” and the end result of this powerful pairing is even greater than the sum of its parts.
New York Post
9.10.08

Her latest album, Shake Away, supplements her dramatic reinventions of traditional Mexican styles with Celtic folk, flamenco, blues, rock a couple of protest songs and a bewitchingly bilingual “Black Magic Woman.
Village Voice
9.10.08

With “Shake Away” there is no doubt that she has earned her supreme confidence and reinvigorated the place in Mexican music where popular and traditional sounds collide. When her voice slithers from one end of the scale to the other, we are honestly awed... There are a slew of cameos here, too…but they’re all irrelevant. The important thing is Downs, getting better and better – and probably nowhere near the peak of her powers yet.
The Washington Post
9.02.08

From Frida to Fierce…Lila Downs lets loose on new CD ‘Shake Away’ and boasts an exuberant, international sound. 
NY Daily News/Viva
9.10.08

There are times on Lila Downs’ new album, “Shake Away” when she seems to be letting out deep emotions stored inside her for centuries. As she shifts from cumbia to norteno, jazz to balladry, Downs alternates the lower register of her voice with breezy, childlike murmurs and sustained, high-pitched bursts of passion.
NY Newsday
8.31.08