CARNAVAL DE LAS VICTIMAS

My filing system has again let me down, so I have no idea how I am currently listening to the sixth album from Argentinian multi-instrumentalist Alejandro Matos, who is joined on his first release in nine years by drummer Javier García Atencio and a few guests who only contribute on just one track each. There are no real epics, but there are a few which break the ten-minute barrier, but there are also some which are less than two. The vocals are mid-range and interesting without being dynamic, and possible I would have got more from them if I could understand the lyrics, but they appear to be in Spanish, so I stand no chance.

This does very much have a solo musician feel about it as while everything is interesting there is nothing which ever takes it to the next level, the result being an album which is okay but is rarely more than that. I note on PA he is listed as Crossover, but if his earlier albums are anything like this one then that is more for him crossing through different sub-genres as opposed to be wonderfully melodic. There are times when he appears at a loss for an idea and switches between different lead instruments in an attempt to keep everything interesting, but it does not really work. At times it is really quite pedestrian, and while one can appreciate the changes from distorted electric guitar to classical and the use of accordion sounds and interesting keyboards there is nothing here to consistently grab one's attention. Between 2000 and 2009 he released four albums, then there was a six-year gap to the fifth, and now a nine-year gap to this one, so I am not sure if there will be another. Not one I would hold my breath for.