Maravilhosamente Bem

The revival of interest in global 80s music continues with the nostalgic third album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and Bala Desejo band member, Julia Mestre. She immerses herself in the polished sheen of that transformational period where the influence of US R&B and pop saw artists abandoning Indigenous styles for the new aesthetic. Retro synthesisers, huge snare hits and Mestre’s seductive female energy hark back to a transitional Brazil where artists such as Alcione and Marina Lima (who appears here on the disco-pop ‘Marinou, Limou’) embodied a new confidence and openness. Mestre’s voice is a sultry, bewitching instrument and the album is impressively produced but I can’t help but find the music to be a bit too derivative. The romantic ballads ‘Vampira’ and ‘Pra Lua’ are lovely, and the orchestral ‘interlúdio dos amantes’ is stunning but Mestre’s love for the period’s aesthetic is sometimes a little too respectful.