Alejandro Escovedo is a Mexican-American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter and his music is incredibly difficult to categorize. At times he ranges across country and rock landscapes performing ballads, love songs, haunting melodic studies, and scorching rock and roll. There are moments when his songs are reminiscent of the Eagles in the way they are arranged and in the lyrical structures, yet his is a solo voice that is compelling without the support of harmony. I bought the CD on the strength of songs like "Velvet Guitar" and "Castanets" which were getting a lot of radio airplay in Austin. Over time, I have come to love the rest of this album even more than those two tracks. Alejandro is a fine singer and a very good guitarist, but the strength of this album is his songwriting and arranging. This is one of those recordings that true music fans will appreciate more after a dozen or so playings than they do at first. The music is complex and multi-layered, despite the simplicity of the single voice and guitar that are featured on most tracks.