Dreaming from the Labyrinth (Soñar Del Laberinto)

Dirty Linen

by Greg Linder

Hinojosa's second release on Warner Brothers is a mixed bag. Recorded in a 170-year old former convent chapel in San Antonio, just a few blocks from the downtown neighborhood where Hinojosa grew up, Dreaming from the Labyrinth presents spacious, ethereal acoustics and sparse, matching lyrics that suggest much but reveal little. She has described the process of making this recording as "dreamlike," but the music's sleepyheadedness sometimes mimics lifelessness. It's not Tex, not Mex, not pop, not a successful multi-cultural synthesis -- at times it's more like acoustic wallpaper. However, several tracks transcend this stricture. The best, "God's Own Open Road," offers a lively, vocal with a jangling folk-country backdrop. "Sacrifices" is a beautifully melodic meditation on the sacrifices that love demands, its bittersweet romanticism underscored by tasteful Spanish guitar and accordion. The hypnotic "Beyond the Battle of Men" evokes the tragic immediacy of war in its use of acoustic guitar, wooden flute, and military drumming, but the lyrics seem oddly detached. "Laughing River Running" offers a refreshing change of pace -- percolating rhythms, Latin guitar flourishes, and sighing background vocals. There's much to like on Dreaming from the Labyrinth, but the wispier compositions resonate with a mysticism that ensures their disappearance into the ether.

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