Alejandro Escovedo

It's hard to pick favorites amongst this masterful mid-career record, as Escovedo treats his typical subjects of loss and love with the utmost care. More than any before, this is Alejandro Escovedo's most complete realization of his gifts as a songwriter, and each tune is decorated in tasteful ornaments of strings and pedal steel. His exploration of his Mexican-American roots, most evident in "Rosalie," "Across the River," and the opening "Wave," are singular triumphs, as is the pounding "Castanets." These 11 tracks make a solid case for No Depression's declaration of "artist of the decade."

It sounds more like a curse than a compliment to describe Alejandro Escovedo as one of
rock's most underrated singer-songwriters. But it is a fact, underscored by the depths of
melody and drama on A Man Under the Influence. A vital if obscured force since the late
1970s with the Nuns, Rank and File, and the True Believers, Escovedo brings his experience
in punk and bejeweled-guitar jangle to bear on the poetic introspection of his s... More >