Review Summary: An engaging and concise album by a talented up-and-coming Brazilian singer-songwriter.
Lau e Eu is one of those "bands" that is centered upon the vision of a single person, in this case the individual known as Lau, a young singer-songwriter from Acaraju, state capital of Sergipe in Northeast Brazil. The project originally emerged from Sergipe's indie scene in 2016 with the EP Cafe Frio, the title track of which was a moderate success on Spotify. Sometime after this release, Lau moved to São Paulo (where the majority of Brazilian indie artists end up) and began work on his debut album.
The Café Frio EP was a solid, promising effort; the title track itself was a catchy and witty number which served as an inviting opener. However, had the record not concluded with the excellent As Paredes Não Choram, which showed Lau to be capable of great things as a songwriter, it would have been somewhat forgettable - not bad, by any means, but without much to distinguish it from the crowd of other emerging MPB / indie acts. That song, however, indicated that Lau e Eu was an act worth keeping an eye on.
This year, Lau is back with his debut album, Selma. It's not actually much longer than the EP, consisting of nine tracks over 27 minutes, six of which are actual songs and the other three of which are voicemail messages which bookend the album and divide the songs neatly into a "side A" and a "side B" of three tracks each. The artistic growth from the EP, though, is huge.
For starters, Lau has improved by leaps and bounds as a singer. He always had a pleasant voice, but here he really commands attention with his delivery. On songs like album highlight Dentro do Meu Peito Mora um Cão there's an emotional edge to his delivery that simply wasn't present in his earlier recordings, as well as a brilliant, haunting melody which is complemented perfectly by the track's keyboard-heavy arrangement.
The album's electronic sound is something else new. The Cafe Frio EP's sonic textures were focused on guitar, bass and drums. Here keys take the front seat, and the result is an electronic indie/pop/MPB sound that complements these new songs, with their elegiac, nostalgic feel, perfectly. He even brings in a guest rapper, GALF, on the song Perdizes to deliver a quickfire verse which brings the energy up a notch.
Lyrically, Lau also shines. His words have a directness and simplicity to them, whilst at the same time displaying a poet's ear for assonance and rhythm. As you might expect, he's mostly talking about his experiences as a young man moving from the provincial city of Acaraju, where he lived with his grandmother (the eponymous Selma, who opens the album with a touching voicemail message), to São Paulo, the commercial and cultural hub of South America*. Anybody who's ever left home can relate to the emotions he's expressing.
Everything Lau tries on Selma, he pulls off. The tracks flow seamlessly and there are no weak links. The opening trio of Dentro do Meu Peito Mora um Cão, Estar Vivo É Bom and Tremores, are all engaging pop songs with an abundance of hooks, while the second half is more experimental and subtle and grows with repeat listens. Anybody with an interest in contemporary Brazilian music should give this a listen.
*A U.S. analogy might be moving from Des Moines to New York City.
