The Living Road

This globe-trotting Mexican-American vocalist and songwriter’s second effort is a heady mix of songs—in Spanish, English and French—about traveling, about the journey, the intensity of life’s ever-changing parade of events. She speaks of all the words that draw us near, the fear of being made a slave to love for the rest of your life, how there’s nowhere to stop on the road, how winds of change push us to cross borders, how we betray what we want out of laziness and melancholy, and how we must get lost to reach where we are. The assemblage of instrumentation—marimba, theremin, pedal steel, cello, various horns and ukulele—manages a seamless fusion of textured rhythms and styles that perfectly sets off her throaty, sensual, luminescent voice, inviting us along for the ride.