| Lala Belu | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Hailu Mergia |
| Cover: | Lala Belu.jpg |
| Length: | 39:25 |
| Label: | Awesome Tapes From Africa |
| Prev Title: | Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument |
| Prev Year: | 2013 |
| Next Title: | Yene Mircha |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
Lala Belu is the second studio album by Ethiopian singer-songwriter Hailu Mergia. It was released on 23 February 2018 under Awesome Tapes From Africa.[1]
On 22 November 2017, Mergia announced his first album in 15 years, along with the single "Gum Gum".[2]
Lala Belu was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 12 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 73 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 7 reviews. At AnyDecentMusic?, the release was rated 7.2 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.
Timothy Monger of AllMusic described the album as a "lovely and deeply creative record", while explaining "touching on myriad emotions throughout its six tracks, the album is bright and joyful at times and occasionally funky while frequently veering into the more cerebral and introspective territory that marked his early solo years."
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllMusic | AllMusics Favourite Latin and World Albums | ||
| Mojo | Mojos Top 75 Albums of 2018 | ||
| Passion of the Weiss | Passion of the Weiss Top 50 Albums of 2018 | ||
| Pitchfork | Pitchforks 200 Best Albums of the Decade (2010s) | ||
| The Wire | The Wires Top 50 Albums of 2018 |
Musicians
Production