(April 22, 2024) It’s amazing to consider the fact that Raul Midón will release his 13th album when Lost & Found drops later this month. He’s been busy, releasing a new project every other year since coming on the scene in 1999.
There are familiar elements in any Midón project, such as his guitar playing that encompasses elements of folk, jazz, blues, just to name a few genres, and his signature voice trumpet. Then there are the vivid lyrics that stand as a mainstay of each Raul Midón record. Yet each of these albums stands as distinct in terms of what Midon decides to make his musical focus.
Midón brings all those musical virtues to the forefront on “A Condition of Love,” the new single from Lost & Found, co-written by Midón with longtime SoulTracks favorite Wayna. That familiarity is balanced in an intimate song that finds Midón leaning into the precise fingering on his acoustic guitar that gives the tune a folk feel. That is further contrasted by percussion that comes from his Afro-Latin background and a smooth R&B-tinged bass line.
Lyrically, Midón fuses the personal and political, something that has been a recurring theme in his music. Here he sings about trying to manage expectations, knowing that keeping score on past statements and actions often leads to disappointment. Instead, his goal is finding himself more in the moment that allows him to appreciate relationships and perhaps that attitude change will lead him to a condition of love. Check out the World Premiere of Raul Midón’s latest song, “A Condition of Love.”
By Howard Dukes