American Music Vol VII

Though the seventh album from Austin's Grupo Fantasma comes after a five-year break from the studio, the band have kept the faith with their established upbeat vibe and energetic eclecticism. Latin American rhythms are a frame onto which they string musics from far beyond their Tex-Mex-Central American patria, so we get blasts of 70s Turkish psychedelic guitar and dhol drumming on ‘LT’ (sung in English, a rare thing), boogaloo-laced funk on ‘Let Me Be’, and hip-hop vox, Colombian gaita and maracas sprinkled elsewhere over the 13 tracks.

The nine-member group, wide open to guests, are joined here by Mr Vallenato and Josh Baca from the Grammy-winning Texmaniacs and, on ‘The Wall’, members of Ozomatli and Locos Por Juana. The latter track alludes, of course, to Trump's numero uno obsession. Pointedly, the album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in the tiny border town of Tornillo, Texas, which hit global headlines for its massive migration camp where children were separated from their families.

Miami-based producer Carlos ‘El Loco’ Bedoya, who has worked with Beyoncé, Weezer and ChocQuibTown, crafts a powerful, pristine sound that with lesser raw material might have led to MOR Latino pop-rock verging on the bland. With two sizzling lead singers, multiple manic percussionists, a loud brass section, Santana-sized electric guitar and bold bass lines, Grupo Fantasma were never going to be that.