Gal Costa-Estratosférica (2015)
Gal Costa-Estratosférica (2015)
“Brazil has
rediscovered itself, and this rediscovery is being expressed in its people's
enthusiasm and their desire to mobilize to face the huge problems that lie
ahead of us.”
Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva
By: Ghost Writer
Gal Costa
remains one of the great rock and pop acts in her native Brazil, a cult figure
as important as the great Caetano Veloso, Gal is a woman capable of showing
great tenderness in her vocal delivery one moment and next she burst in wild
intense screams, in her very first records she had a crazy and energetic vocal
delivery that immediately reminded me of the also great Yoko Ono, a truly maverick
of wild vocals.
Estratosférica finds Gal displaying her great vocals skills and her always present affinity for loud guitars (which in the past were provided by the legendary Os Mutantes, a powerful rock band of the seventies) as opener Sem Medo nem Esperanca quickly shows, fiery drumming and heavy keyboards make her perfect company in this startling theme, no slow start for Costa.
As the record continues Jabitaca goes into the warm and exotic sounds of deep Brazil, a powerful bass execution and precise drumming arrangements along languid synthesizer lines, later the title track goes deeper into the “música popular brasileira” with moving local rhythms and Latin brass and percussion.
Ecstasy is the theme that finally let us appreciate the beautiful voice and mythical phrasing of Gal, displaying a purity rarely heard this days, an exercise on musical honesty and joy that becomes really addictive.
There are other great tunes in Estratosférica like the placid Espelho DAgua, that futures calm and twang guitars that immediately remind us of the warmth of Brazil beaches at night, but the great surprise on the record might be the electronic samba called Pir Baixo that features heavy synthesized sounds, a first, I think for a Gal Costa record, but nothing really strange given Costa´s fearless proclivity to experimenting with sounds.
Electronica seams prominent on this section of the record with the eerie sounding Casca featuring dizzying acid lines of synth, nothing state of the art or too fancy, but rather retro sounding, a feat repeated on the uncanny Muita Sorte, with wild electronics playing a mayor role here letting Gal actualizing her fiery sound, making relevant in a sense we wish her Brazilian comrade Caetano Veloso should be considering in order to revamp his sound and escape the momentary boring trap he seems caught in these days.
I'm realm fond of Anuviar a beautiful and quirky song with lots of start stops, Gal pretty voice on display and a dramatic melody powerful enough to get under the skin.
Estratosférica is an exuberant recording, just like good Gal Costa records are, Costa finds her taking big chances and succeeding here for the biggest part of it, is a little bit distracting the effect provided by the wide range of sounds, but Costa chances makes up for anything that could go wrong, proofs once again of the amazing quality of the Avant pop music coming from the Latin American giant.
Estratosférica finds Gal displaying her great vocals skills and her always present affinity for loud guitars (which in the past were provided by the legendary Os Mutantes, a powerful rock band of the seventies) as opener Sem Medo nem Esperanca quickly shows, fiery drumming and heavy keyboards make her perfect company in this startling theme, no slow start for Costa.
As the record continues Jabitaca goes into the warm and exotic sounds of deep Brazil, a powerful bass execution and precise drumming arrangements along languid synthesizer lines, later the title track goes deeper into the “música popular brasileira” with moving local rhythms and Latin brass and percussion.
Ecstasy is the theme that finally let us appreciate the beautiful voice and mythical phrasing of Gal, displaying a purity rarely heard this days, an exercise on musical honesty and joy that becomes really addictive.
There are other great tunes in Estratosférica like the placid Espelho DAgua, that futures calm and twang guitars that immediately remind us of the warmth of Brazil beaches at night, but the great surprise on the record might be the electronic samba called Pir Baixo that features heavy synthesized sounds, a first, I think for a Gal Costa record, but nothing really strange given Costa´s fearless proclivity to experimenting with sounds.
Electronica seams prominent on this section of the record with the eerie sounding Casca featuring dizzying acid lines of synth, nothing state of the art or too fancy, but rather retro sounding, a feat repeated on the uncanny Muita Sorte, with wild electronics playing a mayor role here letting Gal actualizing her fiery sound, making relevant in a sense we wish her Brazilian comrade Caetano Veloso should be considering in order to revamp his sound and escape the momentary boring trap he seems caught in these days.
I'm realm fond of Anuviar a beautiful and quirky song with lots of start stops, Gal pretty voice on display and a dramatic melody powerful enough to get under the skin.
Estratosférica is an exuberant recording, just like good Gal Costa records are, Costa finds her taking big chances and succeeding here for the biggest part of it, is a little bit distracting the effect provided by the wide range of sounds, but Costa chances makes up for anything that could go wrong, proofs once again of the amazing quality of the Avant pop music coming from the Latin American giant.
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