Stephanie Urbina Jones
Tularosa (Soundly)
Reviewed by Doug Freeman, Fri., Dec. 14, 2018
Stephanie Urbina Jones' sixth studio full-length reworks familiar country classics into mariachi honky-tonk as revelatory as it is surprising. Not everything strikes as dramatically reimagined as cantina kicker "Walking After Midnight" or the siesta-serenaded "Rose Garden," but even straight interpretations of "For the Good Times" and "Silver Wings" stun via the San Antone native's gorgeous, Latin-inflected vocals. Spanish versions of "Jolene" and "Ring of Fire" spark more fiery than even her English versions, while the howls and yelps of "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" kick against the songwriter's sharpened twang.