Rooted in salsa but beloved for his ability to reach beyond the mundane, Victor Manuelle continues his maturation on his 2008 effort, SOY. The vibrant record focuses mostly in two directions, alternatively pumping up the listener with eminently danceable salsa numbers ("Yo No Soy Perdonante") and sultrily wooing his audience into submission on evocative ballads ("Yo Te Queria Querer"). The sleek singer instinctively threads the ever-dramatic songs together with the commanding presence of a savvy veteran and an incorrigible lover of his subject, his words, his world.