We’ve been dreaming of a new album by Sabrina Malheiros on Far Out Recordings and here it is and it’s very wide awake!
This is the third solo album by Ms. Malheiros (daughter of Azymuth’s Alex Malheiros) just in case you didn’t know) but what are we dreaming about?
Well, the opening track is a gentle introduction but it’s not long before we’re into a groovy mood with ‘Lirio De Venus’ on a deep synth throb bossa beat with Sabrina’s echoed vocals spreading love. And hang on, we can’t dance the ‘Bobeira ‘ in our sleep as it’s a very quick step Latin shuffle that would even got Joe Davis, Patrick Forge and Gilles Peterson themselves on the Dingwalls dance floor (BTW, there’s another Dingwalls On Sunday ‘reunion’ this year in November so it’ll give Joe a chance to buy me that pint he owes me from last year – that said, I think we all owe him a pint for the Dreaming release alone).
‘Fragil’ is dreamy chill jazz dance with lashings of flute, percussion, and acoustic guitar; summer maybe coming to an end but this is this is Brazilian summer extension that’ll make your feet smile.
And ‘Candeia’ is just as good with a contemporary 60s feel and then ‘Opará’ is yet another highlight. The hip-hop/R&B vibe to ’Paranóia’ may not be exactly new in the cross genre pollination of the past 20 years but I this was the one I was going to play at Smokin’ Aces on Sunday (well, that was the plan as it was going to be big with BBE’s Ty and Futuristic Music’s Rise on the bill but due to unforeseen events, it got cancelled – gutted!)
And not only that, if I was the trending type, I’d say ‘Can’t Hide Love’ (Earth Wind & Fire cover) and ‘Primieria’ are ideal Sunday Session material – now I defy anyone not to join in with the ahh ahhhs; classic. And talking of classic, ‘Tem Dendê’ is very much old skool mix of Joyce, Astrid, Flora et al.
Whilst there’s a fair bit of Daniel Maunick about this album, the one that’ll keep you awake with Incognito heritage is ‘Segrado’ and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
The only negative for me is the cover photograph as it make me think of a computer generated corpse which is the total opposite to the musical content as it’s on fire and exciting (the recent cover of Far Out’s album by Sean Khan, Slow Burner would have been better for this album in MHO).
If you read the review in this morning’s Metro you might think that this album is merely a ‘continuation bet’ from her previous albums Equilibria from 2005, Vibrasons the following year and then 2008′s New Morning (plus the even better Deluxe Edition) and they’d be nothing wrong with that as all are excellent but this CD is definitely a progression in confidence and sound.
Like I say, don’t be put off by the cover and ‘Dreaming’ is the best Brazilian album of the year – so far[out]!
Reviewed: Sabrina Malheiros – Dreaming (Far Out Recordings) Cat. No. FARO 161CD Release date: 19th September 2010
Tracklisting:
1. Bobeira [Digital Dreamin' Intro] (2:30)
2. Lirio De Venus (4:14)
3. Bobeira (5:46)
4. Fragil (4:41)
5. Candeia (4:16)
6. Opará (4:33)
7. Lirio De Venus [Interlude](1:32)
8. Paranóia (3:38)
9. Segredo (5:42)
10. Can’t Hide Love (4:17)
11. Primeira (5:13)
12. Tem Dendê (4:10)
13. Bobeira (Digital Dreamin’ Outro) (2:32)
