Last years' "Seu Jorge" is back with more heralded as sophisticated Latin soul-folk-jazz beach-pop that's even more refined and chilled - could that be possible?
'Beleza. Mas Agora A Gente Faz O Que Com Isso?' the "difficult" follow-up to 'As Palavras, Vol. 1 & 2' (see review HERE) is a gently good as the first.
If you know Seu Jorge's 'Carolina' (Mr Bongo, 2002), Rubel's has the antedote in 'A Janela, Carolina’ that's a Portuguese version of 'A la Ventana, Carolina' by Mexico's El David Aguilar (worth check that out for a very nice whistle): what a great re-work it is!
And there's only one other cover version and that's from a similar time, Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner’, from the album 'In Rainbows', 2007 that Rubel transforms with the assistance of "Brazilian maestro Arthur Verocai" adding to the beautiful, melancholic textures through his string thand horn arrangements" - it's a fitting climax as his vocal out-Yorke's Thom's original.
So what of the other seven tracks on the album that are all Rubel's originals. 'Feiticeiro Gozador' is an absolute dream of a guide as it's drenched in Verocai-ist strings and gentle Jobim to Nacimento vibes. This level of low intensity is a feature of his compositions with his vocals and acoutic guitar (Ed. the album cover photo almost says it all).
It's all beatiful but if pressed, I'd say 'Noite De Réveillon' is just that bit more with a gentle trumpet solo adding to the softness of the strings whilst, having no knowlegde of Portuguese as a language, I'm guessing 'Carta De Maria' and 'Praticar a Teimosia' are the the love songs of choice.
Not the same as Mr Bongo's last album release, Nina Maia's 'Inteira', the deluxe edition (see review HERE) but there's clearly some Latin American music history links and Rubel is an important addition to it.
Artist: Rubel
Title: Beleza. Mas Agora A Gente Faz O Que Com Isso?
Release date: 17th October, 2025
Label : Mr Bongo
Catalog Number : MRBCDLP320
Format : LP / CD / Digital / Bandcamp
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