Hi. Ok, so basically I’m writing this at 4 AM watching Olympic Judo so forgive me it’s a bit incoherent. Anyways, here we go.
In fullHi. Ok, so basically I’m writing this at 4 AM watching Olympic Judo so forgive me it’s a bit incoherent. Anyways, here we go.
In full honesty, I’d never heard of Rodrigo Amarante before a project of his that had an 80/82 rating on AOTY caught my eye. Naturally, that was this project (the score has fallen since then which should actually be a felony). I didn’t immediately listen to it because it was like 6 AM when I saw it but a chance would come soon. Basically, I was about to go on a 3-hour drive to Delaware with my mom. So like an hour into the car ride I reminded myself of this album, and I listened to it for the first time on the aux. But before I tell you about my first listen, I need to give some context on the album itself.
Rodrigo Amarante is a Brazilian-born and currently LA-based Samba artist. This is his second LP. Something to keep in mind is that he sings both in Portuguese and English, usually interchanging them on a per-song basis.
That aside, let’s get into the actual music.
The album starts off with an intro track that feels like it could be an interlude: The title track, Drama. The first thing you hear are like these dramatic strings that are interspersed by a sample of a crowd laughing. Out of anything this track does, what it does best is give you an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. The track ends abruptly mid-note after a round of applause from the audience during a more optimistic-sounding section of chords. Even if you don’t fully remember this track, it’s a perfect intro in the fact that it will constantly be in the back of your mind throughout the rest of the album. By the way, on my first listen this track just confused me. This track is followed by Maré, which is just a great Samba song. I don’t have much to say here except that the subtle use of synths is really cool, a musical choice that Amarante likes to use.
Next up is Tango, which is literally a Bruno Pernades song with a more ethereal and sunshiny vibe to it. This is the first track where I’d like to highlight Amarante’s voice which is both the hero and sidekick of every song on here. When he’s saying a line, you can hear him loud and clear. However, if he’s humming or running off of a line his voice is used as one of the most beautiful instruments on this project. This track is followed by Tara, which is the track where I realized that “oh, this is a Jazz Fusion album too.” Out of everything I’ve heard this year, this has to be the finest elevator music of it all. Something to note is that Amarante’s voice is mixed far in front of any other layer of his soundscape. I’d also like to give a special shout-out to the brass section of this track, which makes it extremely memorable.
Tanto is the next track, which goes back to Samba as the main influence, with an added string section (also trombones). At this point in the car ride I almost started zoning out. This has to be some of the most soothing music I’ve ever heard and I’m mad at myself for never falling asleep to this. This isn’t helped by the fact that I Can’t Wait, another Art Pop cut that is by far the most ethereal track on this album. This is the track where Rodrigo turns into an instrument completely. It’s genuinely hard to pay attention to what he’s saying because of how sucked into the song you get. Add on to this that it’s one of the shortest tracks on the album and you get a song which has a main takeaway that boils down to an overwhelmingly positive feeling. If I had to give a comparison for it, it would be like a mixture of Peng!-era Stereolab and YWNKY-era Sweet Trip.
And then there’s Tao.
Tao is, with no exaggeration the second best song I’ve heard this year. If it came out as a single I would rate it as a 98, literally 1 point behind Slow, which is my favorite Prog song of all time. The track opens up with thes… Expand
