Raul Malo looks back on his years at The Mavericks with mixed feelings. He did achieve success with that group, but he was not given much room to develop creatively. The singer seems to want to compensate for that on his solo albums. There the music shoots in all directions and Sinners & Saints is no exception: from rootsy rock to Latin to the heartbreaking country ballad 'Til I Gain Control
… Again. The inspiration for this album was the live music that young Malo heard growing up in Miami's Cuban neighborhood. Music to dance to. The brooding trumpets in the title track raise the temperature, but Malo remains a roots boy, who always wants to profess his love for blues and rock. That tension produces a relaxed album, that perhaps could only have been made by his musical kindred spirits Los Lobos. (PdK)more
