In a world where many bands chase commercial and mainstream success and attention, The Mavericks continue to march to their own drum as they go about blending country, rock, rockabilly, Cuban jazz and other worldly sounds through the course of Brand New Day's 10 tracks. These are songs that you (mostly) want to get up and groove to. “Easy As It Seems” and “Rolling Along” feel like the perfect pairing of songs for their live show while “Think Of You” feels like it’s from a bygone era with some horns reminiscent of the roaring 20s blending with a 50s like song. Always in pristine voice, chief songwriter and lead vocalist Raul Malo is without a doubt one of the best vocalists in all of music and he showcases it on this track and on the title track, a song which feels like it was unearthed from a bygone era. It’s hopeful, harmonic and just blissful.
Rockabilly is at the forefront on “Damned (If You Do),” a song where Eddie Perez’ guitar chops get to shine. The band is rounded out by keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden and drummer Paul Deakin. Brand New Day, which is the first record on their own Mono Mundo Records label, was co-produced by Raul Malo and Niko Bolas, who produced their previous two albums (Mono and In Time) since returning in 2012 after a long hiatus. Their personality is found within every song here, a personality that has always been genre-bending and both looking at the past and future at the same time. “Goodnight Waltz” and “Ride With Me” are among the album’s second-half highlights.
With every record they make, The Mavericks distance themselves from the pack as a singular entity on the modern musical landscape. It is the band’s ability to blend sounds of multiple genres into a cohesive sound is what makes Brand New Day such an enticing record.
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