From Brazil, an actress turned YouTube musical hit. Her, not him. He’s just a guest.
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[6.50]
Mallory O’Donnell: Other songs on Clarice Falcão’s excellent Monomania might have seemed more obvious TSJ-fodder (the Parisienne vagabond of a title track, the country-jazz “Fred Astaire,” which even comes in English). However, none would illustrate her transformation from sprightly indie-folk ingenue to finely-matured singer-songwriter quite so handily as this current single. In the mode of classic bossa but adorned with folk tunings and a certain longing sway, it’s wistful and might set you thinking of a departed lover, slowly slipping out the side door. Then the sterling trumpet arrives and you realize they’ve returned cradling a piping pot of feijoada. Idyllic.
[8]
Juana Giaimo: It’s that delicate beginning, the sweet fusion of their voices in the chorus and that nostalgic feeling at the end as the trumpet fades away what makes this song the definition of adorable.
[9]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Falcão and Silva offer their recollections of a party’s sights and sounds with light melancholy — you can hear the seats creak and feet brush the floor, a sweet sign of nerves and lapsed eye contact. Despite this undertone to the performers’ intimacy, their song wisps in, pleased to be the lightest of lusts, and out yet again.
[6]
Will Adams: A sweet, lilting duet that finds its protagonists fawning over the first time they fawned over each other. Syrupy, yes, but think of it as high quality, light amber syrup.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: The horn tries to save this song, but it comes too late — this one is practically dozing off by the time it jolts a little bit, less a pick-me-up and more a reminder that this song was playing.
[4]
Katherine St Asaph: A staid little duet improved slightly because its shambolic arrangement reminds me of Stina Nordenstam’s The World Is Saved (specifically “The Morning Belongs to the Night”). Unfortunately neither “staid” nor “little” are exactly compliments.
[5]
Brad Shoup: We don’t come across much Portuguese-language pop on the Jukebox, which is a shame. “Eu Me Lembro” is, essentially, an bedroom-pop meet-cute (complete with a surprise trumpet outro), but the sway and care in delivery carry echoes of beloved MPB heroes. It’s the short-story sensibility and the way each singer approaches the other that elevates this.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Silva’s resemblance to Caetano Veloso is remarkable, and while the track seeks to emulate the melodic surfeit in which he specializes the closely miked harmonizing is reward enough.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: That a song like “Eu Me Lembro” works so well is illustrative of that fine line between sleep-inducing and soothing. The vocal lines sway gracefully together, lulling the listener into not quite a sleep, but a sway of the head. The trumpet coda is like a gentle wake-up call.
[7]
Rebecca A. Gowns: Evocative of the charming back-and-forth of Elis Regina and Tom Jobim on Aguas de Marco, this is a cute love song that doesn’t feel labored or trite. Which is quite refreshing! The lyrics tiptoe towards bittersweet, but they’re mostly sweet, lingering on little details about beans and buttons — which is also quite refreshing. Nowhere near as all-encompassing as that Antonio Carlos Jobim song, of course; but it’s good that it’s small and contained, a brief dip into the combination brain that starts to grow between a couple.
[8]