Stylistically,
Duelo have come to be recognized as middleweight champions in Mexican norteño music. They have some Latin pop/crossover appeal and aren't a really hardcore norteño group like
Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Grupo Exterminador, or
Los Tigres del Norte, but at the same time,
Duelo have some street cred and can't be lumped in with all the glossy, slick grupero and tejano acts that are basically providing Latin pop with norteño overtones. And that crossover-with-substance approach continues to serve them well on
Necesito Más de Ti (I Need More of You), which achieves a comfortable balance of Latin pop appeal and down-home earthiness. A lot of that earthiness comes from lead singer Oscar Treviño, an expressive, charismatic frontman who brings an appealingly earnest quality to his performances. Treviño's charisma is very much in evidence on romantic offerings such as "Mia" (Mine), "Regresa Cuando Quieras" (Come Back When You Want), "Juego Peligroso" (Dangerous Game), and the melancholy "Esto No Es Amor" (This Is Not Love), all of which are easily recognizable as
Duelo recordings. The closest that this early-2009 release comes to a more hardcore ranchera sound is "Cuando Tuve Ganas"; most of the time,
Duelo have a certain amount of Latin pop appeal. But again, they aren't ultra-slick about it.
Necesito Más de Ti is crossover norteño that does a fine job of keeping it real, and it is a disc that
Duelo's followers will be glad to see added to the band's catalog. ~ Alex Henderson