Crack

15/20

Released in Brazil in 2009, the effect of Lucas Santtana’s fourth album on the landscape of Brazilian music is still being felt. It now becomes the first artist album to be released on UK based forward-thinking Brazilian record label Mais Um Disco, and first single Super violão mashup has received acclaim from none other than Gilles Peterson.

This is an extremely eclectic record from a pioneering artist. It opens with the aforementioned single, in which expertly cut-and-pasted flamenco guitars form a textured and rhythmic masterclass. This does not, however, provide a blueprint for the record as a whole. Elements of electro, beats, traditional folk and acoustica drift in and out entirely unpredictably.

Some songs are simple, stripped-down acoustic numbers, like the sexually-charged but delicate Hold Me In or the sincere Ripple of the Water ,while O Violão de Mario Bros, and Recado pro Pio Lobato continue to meld traditional Brazilian instrumentation with contemporary beat and soundmaking. Perhaps Cira, Regina e Nana is where the styles meet most effectively: a Portuguese-language, well-structured Brazilian folk song boosted and layered through the intrusion of electronica. It’s an organic and tasteful meeting of styles, and while it may not be entirely seamless - the album not flowing as a single entity - there are moments of intrigue and real quality dotted frequently throughout.



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Words: Geraint Davies

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