Lila Downs' ninth studio album "Balas y Chocolate" ("Bullets and Chocolate") was released earlier this year. The record is full of cheerful beats, such as "Una Cruz de Madera" ("A Wooden Cross") and "La Patria Madrina" ("The Godmother Country"). In a recent interview, Downs revealed that "Balas y Chocolate" is an ode to cheating death.

According to the Mexican-American singer, she composed the songs in the album together with her husband, Paul Cohen, after the latter was told by doctors that he only had a short time to live due to an enlarged heart, Fox News Latino reported.

Downs was born in a small town in the south of Mexico called Tlaxiaco from an American father and a Mixteca native mother. When asked about the album's title, Downs, who studied anthropology at the University of Minnesota, said that cocoa beans is "an offering to the deceased," adding that it is "a very sacred ritual" offered to their ancestors and "abuelitos," Fox News Latino noted.

She also said that chocolate symbolizes the album's themes: "the connection between past, present and future which Downs believes gives Latin America its identity," while bullets carry with it a message of social justice paired with Latin American pride. The recording artist pointed out the rampant violence in Mexico and Central America.

Downs said that she started singing at age 8. Her style includes traditional Mexican songs, performing with mariachis, and writing tracks in Spanish, Mixtec, and Zapotec languages, Miami New Times listed.

"Spanish is my favorite -- it's a very musical language," she said, as quoted by Miami New Times. "Singing in native languages is also important to demonstrate that these languages are very much alive and an important part of Native American life in many places in the Americas."

Downs said that her sentimental nature combined with activism is evident in her songs, the news outlet wrote. "La Patria Madrina" is a track tackling environmental and political manifesto. The song's music video, which featured Colombian singer Juanes, was filmed in beautiful Mexican landscapes, Fox News Latino wrote.

Downs' another song, "Humito de Copal," is named after the smoke from the incense burned at deceased individuals' altars, Fox News Latino added. The track is dedicated to all the journalists who have died in Mexico while reporting the country's widespread violence. "Cuando Me Tocas Tú," in addition, is about love and sensuality that can be used to downplay the cruel reality of death.

The artist has an on-going mini tour in the United States for "Balas y Chocolate," the news outlet wrote. Her last stop will be on Nov. 7 accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.