Tish Hinojosa
The Blazers
Whatever her outlook, Hinojosa's pure soprano voice, romantic vision, dead-on pop songwriting sensibility and feel for the musical hook are the core strengths of Sign of Truth. Its faintly world-weary stance signals a certain maturation in her life and work, and a refusal to be constrained by the expectations of some that her music is, or ought to be, purely Mexican-American. As Hinojosa observes, "If it means adding a little more pop edge... while still keeping the folk to a certain degree, that would be the perfect balance." Listeners seeking the roots sounds of Memorabilia Navide�a, Front�jas and Cada Ni�o will find a relaxed bilingual and bicultural approach, but will miss the invigorating influence of her apprenticeship with Mexican-American folklorist, border historian, ethnomusicologist and singer Don Am�rico Paredes. While there is a certain Tex-Mex and Latin savor throughout, Sign of Truth is also close to the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo ("Mona Lisa by the Rio Grande"), Buddy Holly ("Faded Souvenir"), the Beatles ("Wildflowers") and even the Celtic oeuvre ("Song for the Journey"). Hinojosa seems to have forged a shifting equilibrium between a sense of her folk heritage and mainstream inspiration, making manifest her cross-cultural perspective. As good a measure of Hinojosa's broad appeal as any, my four-year-old is an inveterate Tish fan (especially Frontéjas and Cada Niño) in the same way her tastes run to Flaco Jiménez, Steve Jordan, and the Blazers: she loves to dance. But apart from the menacing promise of the opening riffs of "Fire in Winter" and "Taste of Dying Summer," Sign of Truth is an album for listening and poetic reflection rather than dancing, a long way from the rootsy conjunto ambience of Frontejas.
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