Raul Malo

Raul Malo
Lucky One
(Fantasy, 2009)

Raul Malo has been cursed, if that’s the operative word, by a big dramatic voice with an impressive high end. In his early days with the Mavericks, a country band that slowly demolished the boundaries between country, pop, and Latin music, he was constantly being compared to Roy Orbison. The comparisons made him feel so self-conscious that he spent years trying to reign in his high end and downplay his naturally emotional delivery. A few years ago, he came to terms with his voice and let his vocals take him and his listeners wherever they wanted to go. The dramatic Orbison feel is still there, but as he’s aged, Malo has developed a vibrant low end to complement it. This new huskiness gives him a larger vocal palette to play with, and it’s put to good use on Lucky One.

Lucky One is Malo’s first album of original material since his 2001 solo debut Today. Since then, he’s done Latin music and an album of country standards reinvented as late-night jazzy saloon songs. On Lucky One, he brings together all the styles he loves, and sings them with an impressive, straight-from-the-heart sincerity. Malo co-produced the record with Los Lobos’ sax man Steve Berlin, another musician who believes in real sounds played by real musicians in real time, and the music has an appealing live feel.

“Moonlight Kiss” blends Latin swing, country, surf guitar twang, and a retro pop feel that’s intensified by the mellow baritone backing vocals of an all-male chorus. The guitar hook that opens the tune is infuriatingly catchy and Malo’s vocal is full of playful swagger. It recalls the songs of ’50s romantic comedies with a trumpet solo that sounds like it was lifted from a Pérez Prado single. The jazzy country swing of “You Always Win” weaves a delirious spell; Malo croons the lyric with a fatal romanticism that’s undercut by his humorous guitar solo, a long run full of bent notes that descends from a bright vibrato to comped bass chords. “Lonely Hearts” is a jaunty Bakersfield honky tonk rocker with Malo double-tracking a percolating organ riff behind his twangy, Don Rich guitar lines. Drummer John McTigue and bassman Jay Weaver lay down a galloping Buckaroos beat, and Malo ends his vocal lines with a Buck Owens-like yelp.

The singer lets his Orbison-esque high end loose on the simmering “Something Tells Me”, a romantic ballad of ambivalent romance, and “Hello Again”, a big country ballad that builds up to an almost operatic finish. “Crying for You” is a slow, Latin-tinged song; Malo’s sustained notes possess a restrained drama that sound like weeping. “Ready for My Lovin’” features lounge-y sustained notes from Malo’s B3 and a honking sax solo from Berlin. It’s a bit of retro R&B with a jaunty feel and a reverb-drenched solo from Malo’s guitar. The lilting ’40s swing of “Haunting Me” is accented by a nasty rock guitar solo and Malo’s sly vocal. The album closes with “So Beautiful”, a love song with an appropriately gorgeous melody that’s sprinkled with vocal teardrops.

Malo’s burnished vocals and the understated virtuosity of the studio band make every track on Lucky One shine. It’s a masterful collection of love songs for grown-ups without a single weak track.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

Tags: Raul Malo, Lucky One, Fantasy Records, Steve Berlin