Um Segundo

Album Review

Second album by the niece of Caetano Veloso and Maria Betânia. More commercial, but still dealing with acoustic guitars and human-propelled instruments, fortunately (exception for a drum machine in one track). The general tone is romantic, where she re-heats a hit of the 80's, "A vida tem dessas coisas," and tries her compositional skills with the illustrious partner Caetano Veloso in a beautiful (if cool) samba, "Acordar pra você." She also experiments timidly with Bahian rhythms in the beautiful "Graciosa iá." Belô Velloso has a beautiful voice (still strongly influenced by Marisa Monte's), but still doesn't know what to do with it in Brazilian swinging grooves, feeling more comfortable in pop ballads. She also lacks some dynamics feel, all her deliveries are alike, even in grooves so different from each other such as reggae or samba. The album doesn't hurt, representing interesting entertainment, but nothing more than that.