Susan Santos: Sonora Review

Hailing from Madrid, Spain, Susan Santos brings us her sixth album, Sonora. Santos is a self-taught left-handed guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. All eight tracks on Sonora were written by Santos. She shares production credits with Jose Nortes. Sonora was recorded at Black Betty Studios in Madrid. Born in the small industrial city of Badajoz, which is actually closer to Lisbon than Madrid, Santos’ style reflects the scruffy grittiness of the city. She started playing Spanish guitar at 18, leading her to Madrid to pursue a music career. Scratching out a living playing in theatre and for a national television show, she eventually began curating her own material and hitting the road throughout Europe, Mexico, and the US.

Santos’ turning point came a couple of years after picking up the guitar when she came across the sounds of the Beatles, Hendrix, Cream, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and of course, Stevie Ray Vaughn. That led her to electrify her sound where you can also hear influences from ZZ Top and Tom Petty. Santos even shared the stage with Billy Gibbons’ Supersonic Blues Machine when Gibbons invited her up at a festival, they played together a little over four years ago. Santos has also started adding hardware to her resume garnering Best Musician Performance at the 2018 European Blues Awards, and Best Female Album at the 2019 LA Critics’ Awards for her most recent full LP release, 2018’s No U Turn.

While each of the eight tracks on Sonora tell their own tale, they share a common setting. “Sonora, is the album of the desert, and of the desert people.” She discloses in the production notes. “The songs tell stories ranging from survival, thirst, outlaws, escape and freedom against a backdrop of scorpions, lizards, and roadrunners.” Visions of films ranging from whimsical (the Blues Brothers playing Bob’s Country Bunker) to the dark supernatural (Dusk till Dawn and True Blood) come to mind as Sonora tracks along similar settings while Susan’s eclectic guitar work frames and accentuates each song’s story. Santos carries all the vocals and plays a variety of instruments (electric, baritone and acoustic guitars, banjo, and theremin) on the album along with support from David Salvador on bass and Julie El Lento on drums.

To keep with the desert theme, the album’s first single and video “Hot Rod Lady” was filmed in Joshua Tree National Park and tells a story of a woman hell bent on her destination somewhere north of LA drinking bottles of beer to quench her thirst and banging on the steering wheel to stay awake. Santos’ baritone guitar work hammers rhythmically throughout the track, along with bass and drums drive the tune like the pistons in the lady’s hot rod.

“Snakebite,” the second single/video is a spooky sultry piece that conjures visions of True Blood with its striking similarities to Jace Everett’s “Bad Things.” Santos’ slide work slithers throughout the track and as if to add to the theme she closes the song with ‘I’ll see you in my grave.’ The next two tracks “So Long” with its easy-going Americana pace and “Have Mercy’s” throwback country sound that would put a smile on Country Bob’s face add whimsical elements to the album.

“What I Want” pulls us back to rock n roll with old school multiple guitar jams and rebellious lyrics. “Voodoo Wheels” adds a fun rockabilly element and features more excellent slide work from Santos. “Call Me Tonight” harkens to the fun days of early pop rock when you still had to wait by the phone for your evening’s itinerary. “Let it Ride” is just that, a ride through different avenues in Susan’s guitar town. It opens with a regular rock rift then you go down the Hendrix road with some fuzzy guitar followed by a turn down psychedelia lane toward Sabbath street. Quite the ride indeed!

Despite its relatively short play time at a little over 35 minutes, Sonora packs a lively punch. Each of the eight tracks are their own little unique gems of assorted flavors of blues rock that all fit nicely into arid landscape Santos paints as a backdrop. Her guitar work is exceptional, vocals gritty and tailor made for the album’s theme. Sonora will leave you wanting more. An indication of any very good product!  

The Review: 8/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Hot Rod Lady
– Snakebite
– Voodoo Wheels
– Let It Ride

The Big Hit

– Hot Rod Lady