Aural Fixations

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
A Man Under the Influence
(Bloodshot)
Austin's Alejandro Escovedo is the perfect critic's darling. His press kit has reams of favorable notices, he's well-respected by his peers and he's yet to make a bad record. Yet to the public at large he remains unknown, despite being a songwriting talent on a par with Neil Young, Van Morrison, even—dare it be said—Bob Dylan. Why? Who knows? Even if the public airwaves weren't inundated with plastic jingles masquerading as pop songs, it's doubtful Escovedo would find the success he so richly deserves. The poetry of emotion at which he is an acknowledged master is simply not easily digestible by the Great Wad.

Too bad for them. They're unaware of the arrival of another brilliant Alejandro Escovedo album. Recorded in North Carolina with producer Chris Stamey, A Man Under the Influence is the most polished record Escovedo's yet made. Stamey gives the sound a shiny, radio-ready gloss that longtime fans may find somewhat startling, at least at first listen. While Escovedo's always surrounded himself with a small army of musicians, rarely have they contributed to such a full, almost lush sound. Escovedo's never gone for rawness anyway (at least not with his solo records—his work with side band Buick MacKane is another story), but there's always been a loose quality to his prior work, a property that left his music open to improvisation and spontaneity on stage. Here the arrangements are so tight that the only thing likely to be missing from them live is the multiple overdubs.

Ultimately, though, what an Alejandro Escovedo album is all about is great songs, and Influence has an abundance of those. The album kicks off with two numbers from Escovedo's play By the Hand of the Father, and both "Wave," a dramatic anthem, and "Rosalie," an exquisite love song, will rightly take their places alongside his classics. Like a painter hitting the bottle and the brushes with equal measure, he pulls beauty out of romantic misery with "Rhapsody," "About This Love" and "Don't Need You." Refusing to despair, he finds the usual solace in loud guitars in the rockers "Castanets" and "Velvet Guitar" and wishes prosperity to a betrothed child in "Wedding Day." He hasn't written a full album's worth of such consistently strong tunes since his debut album Gravity. Stamey wisely uses his wall of sound to frame Escovedo's limited but poignant vocals; as many tricks and props as the producer uses, he never gets in the way of the stories being told. The density of sound on A Man Under the Influence may seem off-putting at first, but patience and multiple listens reveal an album that plays to the artist's strengths: transcendent songs and pure soul. Michael Toland

For fans of: Neil Young, Peter Case, Paul K