Salto Mortal

The vocal half of the singer-songwriting duo that fronts enduring Argentinian band La Chicana, Dolores Solá steps away here from scribe Acho Estol for this solo debut. Her distinctive tremulous tones and sassy delivery give La Chicana its modern, streetwise sound and have always worked well with Estol’s surreal tales turned into verse. But for Salto Mortal she’s playing it pretty safe, opting to sing covers of three tango legends: Carlos Gardel, Agustín Magaldi and Ignacio Corsini. These singers are honoured not with faithful apeings of their styles but by innovative takes, and Solá significantly varies her styles across 14 songs. Sometimes she’s a pampas folk singer, sometimes a Weimar cabaret artiste, then she does a Gypsy turn in a circus or dons the philosophical gloom of a fado singer; in fact, if there’s one thing she doesn’t do, it’s ordinary tango diva melodrama. The songs chosen aren’t the best-known, which was probably wise, and overall there’s a 1920s belle époque music hall feel to the set which suits Solá’s penchant for both off-the-cuff asides and intimate suggestion. Backed by an excellent band fronted by Diego Rolón on guitar and Luis Volcoff on larger guitarrón (there’s a notable absence of bandoneón), with Estol making a cameo on assorted percussion, Solá has made a confident, classy entrance into solo performance.