Damn Fine Music: Listen to the Mavericks’ Horn-Happy New Single, “Damned (If You Do)”

With a catalog of crowd-pleasing hits like “What a Crying Shame,” “Here Comes the Rain” and “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” the Mavericks have been a staple of country music for more than 25 years. And the band is showing no signs of slowing down.

Two years after releasing their award-winning album, Mono—which helped them cop Group of the Year at the 2015 Americana Awards—the Mavericks are gearing up for the March 31 release of their eighth studio album, Brand New Day. The upcoming album will be the Mavericks first independent offering on their new Mono Mundo Recordings label.

Today (March 10), the Mavericks released a new single, “Damned (If You Do),” an uptempo Latin-infused tune that’s full of horns, drums, accordion and, of course, frontman Raul Malo’s soulful voice, which sounds just as potent today as it did on the group’s self-titled debut album in 1991. The man has pipes.

“‘Damned (If You Do)’ is our ‘rock guitar’ song inspired by the futility of certain situations,” says Raul to Nash Country Daily. “Basically, no matter what, there’s always rock and roll!”

Listen to “Damned (If You Do)” below, a smorgasbord of neotraditional country, soul and rockabilly—with the Cuban flavor we’ve come to relish from the Mavericks.

photo by David McClister