I first heard Bahia-born Lucas Santtana on the best compilation of contemporary Brazilian music of the past couple of years, Oi! A nova musica Brasileira. His track “Hold Me In”, an acoustic slice of bossa nova, was a quiet interlude amonst all the dance, electronica and rock tracks. But it didn’t really give much indication of what an adventurous musical talent he might be.
One curiously satisfying thing about this album is that one hardly notices which songs are sung in Portuguese and which in English (the divide is about 50/50), as focus is constantly being drawn to the sonically idiosyncratic percussion, presumably an influence of Tom Ze (a phone ringing, a fax machine whirring, a fire alarm going off, and is that an old typewriter having its keys vigorously tapped?) and the unexpected chord shifts.
But if this makes Sem nostalgia sound off-puttingly avant-garde it’s really not. Intricately crafted, melodic songs, centred on the acoustic guitar, are the main focus. The use of unusual percussion and other sound effects is merely cosmetic and atmospheric. The main reason I found myself returning to the album over and over again were the songs, which hinted at influences as diverse as Radiohead and Caetano Veloso.
From the crisp cheery samba of “Amor em jacumã” to the edgy minor-key rock of “I Can’t Live Far From my Music” (co-written by Arto Lindsay) there’s a lot to take in here, as the mood constantly shifts and morphs. And it continues to be a pleasure, letting Santtana’s haunting songs take up permanent residence in my head. One of the best Brazilian albums of the year.
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