Search for “Raul Midón” on YouTube and you’ll find a clip of the New York-based vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2006. Performing “State of Mind,” the title track from his 2005 debut album, Midón unleashes a silky, soulful tenor and dazzling percussive guitar style — a syncopated, flamenco- and jazz-infused approach in which bass, harmony, and melodic lines emanate from the fretboard in one slap-happy storm. If that weren’t enough, Midón busts out his improvisational mouth horn technique, in which he creates a bebop “trumpet” solo entirely with his lips, earning himself a spontaneous burst of mid-song applause from the audience in the process. It’s a virtuosic performance, and one that reveals what has made Midón such an exciting artist to watch over the past few years.

The New Mexico native funnels all that creativity and fiery passion into his third album, Synthesis, which he recorded in Los Angeles in June 2009 with legendary producer and bassist Larry Klein, who is noted for his work with such luminaries as Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, and Peter Gabriel. A genre-defying blend of soul, pop, jazz, folk, and Latin elements, Synthesis showcases Midón’s evolution as an artist as he sets some of his more biting insights about betrayal, fear, loss, and the American Dream to deceptively up-tempo swinging rhythms and deliriously catchy melodies. While “Never Really Gave,” “Don’t Take It That Way,” and “Invisible Chains” crackle with tart observation, songs like “Next Generation,” “Call My Name,” and “Moment to Moment” strike a more uplifting tone.

Midón has always experienced the world differently than most. The son of an Argentinean father and an African-American mother (who died when Midón was young), Raul was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, where he and his twin brother, Marco, were blinded as infants after spending time in an incubator without adequate eye protection. “At the time, they didn’t know you have to protect the eyes from the oxygen of the incubator,” Midón says, “so a generation of people were blinded in that way.” Marco now works for NASA as an electrical engineer, while Raul followed a musical path inspired by his father, a professional Argentine folkloric dancer with a diverse record collection that included Beethoven and Mozart, progressive composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and jazz greats Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins.

Midón made a name for himself touring throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan, releasing his second solo album, A World Within a World, in 2007, which, with its uplifting lyrics about social consciousness and insinuating grooves, went a long way toward further establishing Midón as an artist “who contributes something lasting to the musical landscape,” as NPR said of him. Guitar Player called Midón “one of those rare musical forces that remind s how strong and deep the connection between man and music can sometimes be.”

Now comes Synthesis, which Midón began working on last summer, demoing the songs at his home studio using a PC-based software program called Sonar, which makes Windows accessible to blind people. “The company that makes it is called Dancing Dots,” Midón explains, “and the program allows you to edit audio and have access to the things that everyone uses in recording, like compressors, reverb, effects, MIDI — all on a professional level. So each demo I recorded served as a way to figure out how to do something else in my studio.”

In June 2009, Midón arrived in Los Angeles to begin recording with Klein, whose previous work with so many beloved singer-songwriters Midón credits with making his voice sound more alive than he’d ever heard it recorded. “I wanted to work with someone I can communicate with as a musician, who has that background and vocabulary, particularly harmonically,” he says. “Larry is the kind of producer who is coming from where I’m coming from.”

“I’ve always been interested in combining elements,” Midón says. “This album has elements of soul and pop. There are some improvisational elements. There are some songs that are perhaps a bit challenging musically, but my hope is that the album appeals to a broad audience. I think there’s something here for everyone.”