Alejandro Escovedo Echo Dancing 2LP (Gold Vinyl)

"This record breathes a second life into these songs," says Alejandro Escovedo of Echo Dancing, the Americana pioneer's 2024 album where he reconceptualizes the songs of his storied career. The variety of songs range from his short-lived rock quartet Buick MacKane, rarities from his '80s alt-country outfit The True Believers, to the celebrated songs of his solo discography from his debut album all the way to his most recent sprawling masterpiece, The Crossing.

Highlights include a reimagined trip-hop-funk hybrid of Escovedo's "Castanets" (retitled here as "Castañuelas''), a blistering version of "Bury Me" that finds that songwriter now older than the characters he was singing about, as well as songs co-written with trailblazers such as Chuck Prophet, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and J. Steven Soles.

At age 73, Escovedo continues to reshape his ever-changing sound and experiment with the boundaries of Americana music.

"I always feel that a well-written song can withstand a lot of abuse," Escovedo says. It is an area of creativity that the man has always honored. "Turning a past song inside out leads to discovery of new ideas you might not have understood about the song," he says. "Even lyrical refurbishing has proven helpful and effective. It's like interpreting your own work anew. The songs never seem to be complete. They are always evolving."

Everything on Echo Dancing has a feeling of absolute freshness about it, and at the same time, there is a strong link to the past. It's almost like reincarnation in the recording studio, but everything seems brand new. All the musicians are dedicated to finding the new amongst the songs' prior history. It is not something that happens often, and it surely has never occurred quite like it does on this fascinating new collection.

"Everyone involved has guided me to new approaches to my music, like other musicians have my whole life. I have always worked hard to discover new ways to tell the story. I've never hidden my love for Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Judy Nylon, Cluster, along with the Stooges, New York Dolls, MC5, Roky Erickson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Joe Ely, Terry Allen; you get the picture. There is always more work to be done and joy to be made. I am nowhere near finished."

Echo Dancing makes sure Alejandro Escovedo's evolving circle remains unbroken.

...even the best-known tracks get a truly thorough reworking, with scratchy guitars, lo-fi keyboards, and vintage drum machines often dominating the arrangements, making much of this seem like Escovedo's long-lost new wave or synth-punk LP....a successful experiment.