The Malta Independent 18 April 2024, Thursday
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The Mavericks ' new CD is a spinning wheel of styles

Friday, 14 April 2017, 16:10 Last update: about 8 years ago

The Mavericks, "Brand New Day" (Mono Mundo Recordings)

The Mavericks' "Brand New Day" is skillfully paced for the dancefloor, straddling the southern American borders and shores with a spinning wheel of styles and rhythms.

Led by rhapsodic vocalist Raul Malo, the band displays its usual high standards on tunes brimming with Tex-Mex accordions, Cuban rhythms, sophisticated 1960s pop, sensitive ballads and swirling bossa nova.

Opener "Rolling Along" contains the leitmotif of the band's first album on their own independent label - "Don't fix what ain't broken" - and suggests a distraction from some of life's many difficulties that, as of press time, is legal only in a handful of states.

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The title track sounds like a long-lost Motown classic produced by Phil Spector in the 1970s and if "Easy As It Seems" doesn't inspire your inner Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, check if you still have a pulse.

"Ride With Me" combines a brochure for Tourism U.S.A. with Eddie Perez's Chuck Berryesque guitar, horn accents and Jerry Dale McFadden's swirling organ - road music customized for a cabriolet.

The Mavericks have a distinctive talent for mixing and matching, and Malo's Latino/Miami roots are a big part of his songwriting. "Wish You Well" and "Goodnight Waltz" offer a chance for intimacy on the dance parquet and Malo really lets it rip on "I Will Be Yours," a deeply romantic shuffle.

Closer "For The Ages" returns to Doug Sahm territory deep in the heart of Tex-Mex, ending with a brief singalong perfectly suited to close out the party. But don't despair, another Saturday night is just a week away again.

 


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