The wave of new Brazilian pop continues to swell without any sign of crashing. Last year Bala Desejo and Ana Frango Elétrico hit pundits and punters’ ‘Best of 2023’ lists with albums that brought a fresh burst of creative abandon onto the scene. So what of 2024? Well alongside the whispers of that other front-runner, Sessa, gathering a new album together, there’s another name to keep track of, 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’ that flowed through Nascimento/Veloso moments and beyond to freak folk. Throw in two film soundtracks recorded over the last three years and you’ll recognise that Arthur Melo is no rookie.
So news of his next album ‘Mirante Emocionais’, due April 19th via London label Wonderfulsound, should definitely bend your ear. You might have already caught the silky synth pop of Álvaro Almeida, the first peep at what the collection might have in store. Well don’t be fooled by that tasty Marcos Valles meets Future Islands bop, single two, out now, takes you to a different destination.
Na Avenida com Benito cruises between a slippery Khruangbin funk, giddy Os Mutantes psych and smoothly oiled bossa. As Melo’s electric guitar lines fuzz, wobble and twang, his spooky falsetto hovers over the song’s darker side. So two trailers in and you still can’t second guess what the whole album might bring, but you know you’ll have to find out. Arthur Melo looks certain to be a name to drop.
Pre-order your copy of ‘Mirante Emocionais’ by Arthur Melo from your local record store or direct from Wonderfulsound HERE
