Another winner for Calexico
This is Calexico's 7th full-length album and over the course of their career they've provided a consistently impressive output, fans should be pleased to hear that this record is instantly recognisable as Calexico and fits snugly into their cannon. While it may be one of their most accessible albums, as the press blurb maintains, I don't agree that it's their most exciting, it definitely doesn't have the epic pizzazz of the earlier albums (the shiver inducing and cinematic The Black Light and Hot Rails for instance), but that doesn't mean it's less impactive and enjoyable, far from it - this is one of their slow burners, drenched in a lovely, quietly emotive quality and a sultry warm tone which may be the product of the band recording in New Orleans.
There are certainly plenty of winners, in fact, though the album takes in numerous styles and a variety of approaches there are no low moments and it has a fully cohesive feel throughout. It ranges from the more straight forwardly country sounding brass backing and sweet melody of Splitter to the more familiar sounding Sinner In The Sea which harks back to classic Calexico sounds with texture and minimalism sitting side by side - an echoing production, lap steel and throbbing bass make you swoon. The acoustic-led Fortune Teller is a gorgeous gem, sweet and dreamy and emotive; No Te Vayas brings the talents of Jairo Zavala (Depedro)into the mix along with some superb trumpet, and final track The Vanishing Mind closes things out with a great vocal, melancholic sliding and beautiful sweeping strings towards the end.
Calexico bring us yet another fantastic album of beautiful, arresting tunes, not just 'one for the collection' but an album to lose yourself in.