Tita Lima – Só O Começo
Tita Lima – Jardim
Over the past few years several of my favorite contemporary releases have been from Brazilian artists including CeU, 3 Na Massa, Seu Jorge’s upcoming release and this new album from Tita Lima. Few musical scenes are mixing styles as seamlessly as Brazilians are these days, or to greater effect. Lima’s new album “Possibilidades” shifts and strays into a variety of musical territories, from the dub disco reggae of “Mundo Pequeno” to the bloozy funk of “Jardim”, without ever losing direction or sounding out of place.
Throughout it all there are the vocals and presence of Tita Lima, at times playful yet cautionary, as on the lone song in English, “Smile,” or damn sensual on “Ciranda” and, despite abrupt changes in tempo and tone, “Só O Começo,” easily my favorite song in this set. Lima’s voice and the musicians continually take things in unexpected places on “Possibilades,” including a reworking of the track she cut with Ocote Soul Sounds in 2009, and one of my absolute favorite songs in recent memory, “Vendendo Saude E Fé,” into a tougher, heavier, though still very funky, piece.
Perhaps these masterful musical mashups should be expected from musicians whose country has such a rich legacy, especially with the veneration of the Tropicália movement in recent years (incidentally Lima’s father actually played bass for Os Mutantes), but it is refreshing to hear artists like Tita Lima take chances with their music, mixing together their disparate influences into something that is both novel and familiar, original and classic.
As an added treat, here’s the video for one of the album’s other standout tracks, “Mundo Pequeno”: