Fantasy/Concord

Raul Malo’s rich, resonant voice is always the main event – with his standout country-rock band The Mavericks or his solo work during the past decade. About the last may you want to hear him to sound is preachy, as he is on the social commentary number “Living for Today.” But that’s the only clunker on this self-produced set. Most of the other songs lean toward sumptuous, Latin-tinged, danceable territory (the Orbison-esque bossanova “Matter Much to You” is a fine specimen) or play up the dramatic tension between the best and worst impulses within a person (as in the horn-heated, flamenco-pop title track and a smoldering country-soul cover of Rodney Crowell’s “‘Til I Gain Control Again” ). Malo, the veteran performer, still sounds hungry, which makes for a satisfying listen.