If their previous efforts
Necesito Más de Ti (2009) and
Solamente Tú (2010) were fresh-sounding,
Duelo’s 2011 album
Vuela Muy Alto is familiar, with the group playing its Latin-pop-meets-earthy-Americana with comfort and ease. This isn’t a complaint but a compliment, as the combination is highly desirable, plus the songwriting comes through better than ever before, most of it falling somewhere between melancholic and distraught. The best example of the band at its most traditional has to be the album’s title track, while the closing “Feliz Cumpleaños” is the group at its most playful, offering a birthday wish over a boisterous, almost Cajun rhythm. ~ David Jeffries