Átimo

There has been an intriguing Sweden-Salvador, Brazil connection establishing itself of late, with Swedish producer Sebastian Notini working with Tiganá Santana, Luedji Luna and Ian Lasserre, now on his second album. With Santana and Luna the result has been akin to doing with Afro-Brazilian music what bossa nova did to samba, stripping it down to just the basic elements (guitar strings, voice and rhythm), focusing on flow and ambience. The result becomes more transcendental, intimate.

This is the case with Lasserre too, but he also ventures rhythmically across Brazil. His Salvador roots are clear on the track ‘Minha Bahia’, powered by a percussive guitar riff with a suitably languid chorus that is impossible to hear without imagining sun-dappled landscapes and vast blue skies. He heads to Rio on ‘Samba de Quarta Feira’, with subtle guitar noodling adding even more movement, and on ‘Super Nova’ he tackles the sprightlier pace of a carnival frevo with just voice, clarinet, flute and tuba; it's a beautiful thing. He finishes with an album highlight, evoking southern Brazil's Vitor Ramil on the title-track, wind instruments dancing around a lush flowing guitar melody and Lasserre's strident voice, his wordless vocalising at the end recalling Milton Nascimento.