by Céu
After the release of her eponymous album, a mix of bossa, RnB, samba and electronica, smokey-voiced Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu has become a household name in and out of her homeland. This is thanks, in no small part, to the exposure given to her via Six Degrees Records and via Starbucks (she was the first international artist featured by the chain). Céu returns this week with her third album, Caravana Sereia Bloom, an LP inspired by voyages and traveling troupes.
Musically, Caravana Sereia Bloom shows the singer’s evolution, crafting a more complex and mature sound. Though it sometimes slips into coffee table territory, the album holds together with some stand-out moments, mixing Brazil’s musical heritage (tropicalia, samba, bossa) with her own songwriting talents, for example on ‘Retrovisor (FREE DL)’ ‘Teju na Estrada’, ‘Asfalto e Sal’ and ‘Contravento’.
It is a dusty, road-trip affair, influenced by the singer’s travels between São Paulo and the arid North East, and paying tribute to Carlos Diegues 1979 film Bye Bye Brasil about a troop of traveling artists. This is the perfect album for a sunshine filled road trip or to close you eyes to and wish you were there.
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