Pequena Vertigem De Amor

Sessa (aka Sergio Sayeg) has done his homework, the result being a first-class album of Brazilian pop thats laid-back and relaxed but never boring. Throughout Pequena Vertigem de Amor, Sayeg follows the same playbook that many Tropicalia artists did by mutating bossa nova and MPB sounds and conventions into something a little more left-field and expansive. String sections cruise through many of the songs to sweep the melodies along, saxes hum peacefully in the mid-range, backing vocalists provide fluffy harmonies, and in the center Sayegs vocals croon delightfully. Occasionally a song will peek through the chill vibes to provide a little jolt of drama; the rollicking "Planta Santa" has nice percolating grooves and a Baroque lilt, "Nome de Deus" has some insistent piano chords and driving percussion. On the flipside, a few songs dial the temperature down below chill to a little closer to chilly. "Gestos Naturais" is slow and dreamy with plinking drum machines, great clouds of echo, wah-wah guitar, and Sayegs barely there vocals all combining to create some imaginative and psychedelic easy listening music. The gentle push and pull between soft sounds and rich arrangements give the record just enough tension to keep it from drifting off into the clouds, and Sayeg knows just when to inject something interesting when eyelids begin to droop a bit, and at the albums best, like on the beautiful and very well-arranged "Dodoi," crafts music that sounds on par with the best music to come out of Brazil in the late 60s and early 70s. ~ Tim Sendra

トロピカリア以降の自由な精神を最も鮮やかに体現し、ブラジルの美学を更新する俊英SSWセッサによる3作目。前作はチン・ベルナンデスにも通じるアシッド・フォーキーなMPBといった印象だったが、今作ではサイケデリック・ソウルやスピリチュアルな色合いを強め、また古きよきラテン・ジャズのノスタルジックな香もまとったサウンドへと拡張。タイトルが示す「小さな恋のめまい」は、父親になったセッサの新たな生活の中心となり、その時間が彼の音楽にかつてない深みと彩りをもたらしている。そしてその甘美な揺らぎを歌う、彼の柔らかく静謐で官能的な響きのある歌声は、これまでにも増して滑らかで艶やかだ。
intoxicate (C)小畑雄巨