A lot of excitement surrounded Marisa Monte's new release,"Memórias, Cronicas e Declarações de Amor", since it had been five years since her last studio album, "Rose and Charcoal" (Her most recent one, "A Great Noise", was a live collection of previous hits).
After all, Marisa Monte is one of the rare musical unanimities in Brazil. Everyone admires her work, regardless of class or education. She is as "pop" as she is "cult", and most agree that she is one of Brazil's best female voices.
Whilst listening to the CD, one notices that Marisa is gradually consolidating her own style, leaving the musical mixture of her early career well behind her.
Such consolidation no doubt benefits the singer, but it leaves to the listener a feeling of déja-vu. Many of the songs, unfortunately, sound too much alike.
The concept of the album, as its Portuguese title suggests (Memories, Chronicles and Love Stories), is love, and happiness, sadness and bliss that are an integral part of love are present on every track.
The opening song, "Amor I Love You", which is tirelessly playing on the radio here, sums up well the idea of the album. Its concept is even more evident as Arnaldo Antunes ( a frequent collaborator of Monte's) reads a passage from "The Yellow Sofa", the anti-Victorian masterpiece by 19th Century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queiroz:
"... tinha suspirado, tinha beijado o papel devotamente! Era a primeira vez que lhe escreviam aquelas sentimentalidades, e o seu orgulho dilatava-se ao calor amoroso que saía delas, como um corpo ressequido que se estira num banho tépido; sentia um acréscimo de estima por si mesma, e parecia-lhe que entrava enfim numa existência superiormente interessante, onde cada passo conduzia a um êxtase, e a alma se cobria de um luxo radioso de sensações! "
"... she had sighed, and had kissed the paper devotedly! It was the first time that such feelings had been put on paper for her, and her pride grew to the loving heat that came from those words, like a dried body that lies itself in a tepid bath; she felt a growth of esteem for herself, and it seemed to her that she had at last entered a superior, interesting existence, where each pace led to an ecstasy, as if the soul was covered by a fantastic luxury of sensations! (my translation)"
"Amor I Love You" is actually one of the album's greatest moments. Other very interesting tracks are "Para Ver As Meninas"(To See The Girls), by Paulinho da Viola "Cinco Minutos" (Five Minutes) by Jorge Benjor and "Sou Seu Sabiá" (I'm Your Hummingbird), by Caetano Veloso.
In this writer's opinion, the best track is, without a doubt the bossa-nova styled "Gotas de Luar" (Drops of Moonlight), a standard by Nelson Cavaquinho and Guilherme Brito. Its simplicity opposes to the rest of the album's sophistication.
The remaining tracks, which were mostly co-written with Carlinhos Brown, Arnaldo Antunes and Lucas Santtana are very interesting, but as I wrote earlier they are sometimes repetitive, specially "Não Vá Embora (Don't Go Away)" and "Não é Fácil (It's Not Easy)". One sometimes wonders, by their similarities, if someone has tampered with the CD-Player.
However short, the album is great listening pleasure. the co-producer, Arto Lindsay , gave a lot of importance to the instruments, which is a rare attitude in albums by vocalists.
The inlay has all the lyrics and the guitar chords, plus pictures of things of Marisa's everyday life, such as books, CDs and the like.
In Brazil, an enlarged hardcover version of the inlay was also released in bookstores. I am not aware of its release outside the country, but never mind it, unless the reader is a collector of Marisa Monte merchandise.
In conclusion, the album is worth the price, despite of its weak moments. A good wine is an appropriate accompaniment to its listening
A BRAZILIAN DIVA'S MUSICAL INFATUATIONS
Still good, but not her best
