Ana Tijoux’s follow up to “1977” is about to hit the streets next week (January 31) with her release, “La Bala,” via Nacional Records. If you’re unaware of her story, Tijoux’s family fled a Pinochet dictated Chile as political refugees to France to escape the horrors left behind. The second album is a more calculated approach to her whip-smart lyrics that won’t come at you like a punch on the mouth but more sideways than anything. The title track appears as if Tijoux’s smoking a cigarette blindfolded in front of a Chilean firing squad spitting her final battle cry. Academy Award winning producer, Jorge Drexler, brings a jazz-lounge quality to the album that was recorded in Tijoux’s native Chile and mastered in Motor City (Detroit). The album boasts collaborations with Solo Di Medina and Los Aldeanos, although I was hoping for a collabo with Mexican hip-hoppers, Control Machete. Listen to the album via NPR over here.