The Breakdown
In the same way that last year Bala Dejeso and Ana Frango Elétrico swung the spotlight back on the wild creativity of the Brazilian pop scene, 2024 looks like it’s facing a repeat. Alongside the whispers of the enigmatic Sessa, gathering a new album together, there’s another name filtering through to the surface, the multi-talented Arthur Melo, a singer/ guitarist/composer from Belo Horizonte.
Pre -pandemic Melo’s trajectory was already beginning to scale upwards. From 2018 to 2020 he released three albums of intriguing acoustic bossa songs: the daring ‘Nhanderuvuçu’ with its sweeping arrangements; the intimately crafted, stripped back ‘Metanoia’; and the eclectic ‘Adeus’ which flowed from Nascimento/Veloso moments onwards into freak folk. Throw in two film soundtracks recorded over the last three years and it’s clear that Arthur Melo is no upstart. Here is a prolific, vibrant musician with a lot to say and no limitations in terms of how to get his message out.
So with a new album ‘Mirante Emocionais’ delivered by London label Wonderfulsound, it feels like Melo’s time could most definitely be now. The release comes packed to the rafters with ideas, influences and ingenuity which means early listens can leave you reeling, as if you’ve got lost in a record store filled with every MPB release ever. It’s therefore a credit to Melo and his band O Ministério da Consciência that ‘Mirante Emocionais’ is a wholesome thing, neither messy or muddled, but bound together by a relaxed vision. Melo has likened the album to looking down on a city and not getting overwhelmed by its vastness, trying less to unravel complexities and more to live alongside them. So the album is presented as one to trust and see where it leads you.
Cleverly Melo keeps the options open during the early stages of ‘Mirante Emocionais’. After the brief quirky vaudevillian snippet of Me Lastimaste, the warm jangling guitar lines of Na Avenida com Benito appear to settle things down. Gear shifting between slippery Khruangbin funk, giddy Os Mutantes psych and smoothly oiled bossa, the song bristles with warbling guitar fills plus Melo’s haunted falsetto. The tumbling surf guitar and bubbling bass of Dama da Noite suggests this thread will continue through the album but this sultry samba aches with an uneasy sadness as it scales up then disappears on a jamming fade.
From here things get even more mysterious. The tempo sifting avant samba of Zói Fundo trundles from schmaltzy surrealism, where the vocals drip with pastiche and irony, onto a prog-like proto march. That’s followed by the pared back De Toda Sorte, where Melo’s jazz toned guitar and whispering voice roll into some lush synth melodies as a gently pulsing ballad unfolds. So far so Tom Zé but maybe ‘Mirante Emocionais’ finds its natural pivot on the expansive Maré. Here the Steve Hackett like guitar patterns and Melo’s delicate vocal mix with some orchestrated Verocai details before skipping into light drum-machined, disco strut. Sounds eccentric when written down but under Arthur Melo and co-producer Lucca Noacca’s spell this music flows with purpose and panache.
The same magic happens on the hippy tinged, raga bossa of Princípios Organizadores where Dante Batista Ribeiro’s spidery sitar, some wristy hand drums and sixties psych ripples ease into a relaxed dancefloor bump. There’s also an 80’s / early 90’s vibe to silky synth pop of Álvaro Almeida where Marcos Valles meets Future Islands’ bop and Melo’s more upfront vocal leads all the way to a sumptuous hook. The song shows that Melo can do ‘less angles, more economy’ without losing his edge, as does the new wave guitar bounce of Do Colostro ao Osso, all jangles, guitar harmonies and rumbling bass in neat Rubinoos/Beserkley fashion. Grab those T-shirts and pumps now….
Do Colostro ao Osso is a reminder that the guitar is an important component in Arthur Melo’s music and that maybe he is coming at the rejuvenation of MPB from a slightly different starting point than the lush pop of Bala Dejeso or the disco thrust of Ana Frango Elétrico. However his connection with the deep roots of samba soul are the same as any other artists in this buoyant new scene. You only have to listen the succulent swoon of Saídas which laps and wraps itself up with a melancholic elegance to recognise that shared heritage. The track also highlights the real sense of resolution and completeness that ‘Mirantes Emocionais’ brings. As an album it may pack a lot in emotionally as well as musically but Arthur Melo has the vision to guide you through to leave you feeling refreshed and restored.
Get your copy of ‘Mirantes Emocionais’ by Arthur Melo from your local record store or direct from WONDERFULSOUND HERE
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