Believe it or not, this is Washington duo Thievery Corporation’s seventh album, a full eighteen years on from ‘Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi’ – and it’s the first to concentrate wholly on their shared love of Brazilian music. To do this it brings in some rather special vocal guests, headed by LouLou Ghelichkhani but also including Karina Zevianai, Natalia Clavier, Shana Halligan and the beguiling voice of newcomer Elin Melgarejo. There is a beautiful sense of melancholy running through the album that reveals itself more when the weather is grey, but in the sunshine these subtle bossa and soft samba grooves come alive, aided by the sumptuous strings that are beautifully applied to ‘No More Disguise’ and ‘Depth Of My Soul’, or the languid guitar of the title track. The phrase ‘return to form’ is often used as a cliché in album reviews – but that’s exactly what Thievery Corporation conjure up here, in their best album for many years.
5 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
