Airwave: Malo's feeling as the 'Lonely' one in album

As the frontman for the Mavericks and a member of Los Super Seven, Raul Malo has applied his Orbison-like delivery to an eclectic array of material.

On this, his latest solo effort You're Only Lonely (Sanctuary Records), the warbler enlists veteran producer Peter Asher to focus on romantic balladry, as string-laden arrangements surround Malo's tremulous voice on the opening title track (a '70s hit for songwriter J.D. Souther) and the soaring "Feels Like Home" (reprised as the closer in a duet with Martina McBride).

The song selection highlights Malo's vocal range, as he finds the bittersweet essence in a slowed-down rendition of the Everly Brothers' "So Sad," a dramatic reading of the Bee Gees' "Run to Me,":

If ever you got rain in your heart,
someone has hurt you, and torn you apart,
am I unwise to open up your eyes to love me?

And let it be like they said it would be -
me loving you girl, and you loving me.
Am I unwise to open up your eyes to love me?

Run to me whenever you're lonely. (to love me)
Run to me if you need a shoulder
Now and then, you need someone older,
so darling, you run to me.

And when you're out in the cold,
no one beside you, and no one to hold,
am I unwise to open up your eyes to love me?

And when you've got nothing to lose,
nothing to pay for, nothing to choose,
am I unwise to open up your eyes to love me

Run to me whenever you're lonely. (to love me)
Run to me if you need a shoulder
Now and then you need someone older,
so darling, you run to me

A lilting take on Ron Sexsmith's "Secret Heart." He even tackles Etta James's signature tune, "At Last," its jazzy, smoky sophistication punctuated by a trumpet solo:
Pushover
Etta James

So you told all the boys that you were gonna take me out

Ya even ya even had the nerve to make a bet a yes you did
That I, I would give in all of my love you would win
But you haven't, you haven't won it yet
You took me for a pushover
Oh you thought I was a push over
Wo I'm not a push over
You thought my love was easy to get

All of the girls think you're fine
They even call ya Romeo
Ya got 'em, yeah you got 'em runnin' to and fro
Yes ya have
But I don't want a one night thrill
I want a love that's for real
And I can tell by your line, your's is not the lasting kind

You took me for a push over
Oh you thought I was a push over
Whoa I'm not a push over
You thought that you could change my mind
your temptin' lips (m m hm) your way hair (oh yeah)
your pretty eyes with that (ahhhhhhh) come hither stare
It makes me weak and I, I start to bend
and then I stop and think again
no (no), no (no), no don't let yourself go

I hate to spoil your reputation
I want true love not an imitation
And I'm hip to every word in your conversation

Who took me for a -- push over
Whoa I'm not a -- push over
Whoa you thought I was a -- push over
Whoa you can't (push me over)
Nobody is gonna (push me over)
Oh you're not man enough to (push me over)
(fade) Everybody thought you was gonna (push me over)


From: "sassy11749"

The cover of Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" provides the album's main link to country, but even here the bedrock organ and soul choir sound closer to the church than the roadhouse. The stellar selection provides a superb showcase for Malo's shimmering voice.

As noted by the lyrics to the song:

If you had not have fallen
Then I would not have found you
Angel flying too close to the ground
And I patched up your broken wing

And hung around a while
Tried to keep your spirits up
While you were feelin' down
I knew someday that you would fly away
For love's the greatest healer to be found
So leave me if you need to

I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground
Fly on, fly on past the speed of sound
I'd rather see you up
Than see you down
Leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground

Overall: Malo's voice and music is great so, is this album.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

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