In My Dreams (Warner Nashville, 2003)

No, you haven't put The Mavericks "Music For All Occasions" in your player by mistake; that really is the new Rick Trevino record you're hearing. And if on occasion it's unmistakably reminiscent of The Mavericks sound - the moody, high-strings and baritone-guitar vibe of "Are We Almost There," say, or the driving beat of "Heartaches" - that should come as no surprise, given that Raul Malo produced it, plays on it and had a hand in writing all but one of its songs.

But just as unmistakably, this record isn't simply Mavericks redux. Trevino combines the traditional country of his early records with the sounds of his Mexican heritage, which he visited on the first Los Super Seven project and his own "Mi Son."

Sometimes that means straightahead, uptempo honky-tonk ("Overnight Success"), or a more smoky variety (the Gary Allan-esque title track) or the majestic waltz-tempo ballad "Downside of Love." Other songs visit hybrid, country-pop territory: "She'll Never Know," for example, combines sweeping strings with Spanish guitar, while the shuffling "Olivia" blends a farfisa organ groove with trad pedal steel. All of this is capped with Trevino's transformation of the classic rock staple "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" into a Latin epic. It's a fitting conclusion to one of the stronger country records released this year.