Understated brilliance. It not only describes the new Los Lobos album “The Town and the City” but also what they have written about all during their thirty year career; the American working ethic. You’ll notice I didn’t say the Mexican-American working ethic because, despite their name and some of their Spanish language lyrics, they are non-hyphenated Americans. “The Town and the City” is a subtle and mesmerizing collection of songs about working class America, consistent with their best albums “Kiko”, “By the Light of the Moon” and their most recent, “The Ride.”  

Although this might be the perfect climate for Los Lobos to make a musical statement about illegal immigration, there is only one song about it and it’s a good one, but the rest of the album deals with putting “bread on the table”, chasing “the mighty dollar”, going out ”into the neon night”, having a mother say “don’t wander too far”, and then to “do it all over again.” Universal experiences all. David Hidalgo is a musical genius not only as a guitarist but also as a singer-songwriter. He laments that he wouldn’t have did what he had done before singing the title “If You Were Only Here Tonight”, never actually saying what it was he did.

“The Town and the City” also deals with the spaces where we live. From the “The Valley” down “The Road to Gila Bend”, under the “Luna” watching “Two Dogs and a Bone.” Coming from Los Angeles it’s not surprising they would make “The City” is an exciting and exhilarating song while it’s “The Town” that’s the scary place to be. While they don’t produce the rip snorting blues rock they have in the past anymore, the type of quiet beauty that Los Lobos consistently puts into their music is something we all strive for in our own lives.

Listen for lots of songs from “The Town and the City” by Los Lobos on Paul Shugrue’s new music show “Out of the Box” Monday through Thursday from 7pm to 9pm and Saturday afternoon from 1pm to 5pm on Public Radio in Hampton Roads 89.5 WHRV.