Bahia Com H

Perhaps because she worked alongside the likes of Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento – among other Brazilian greats – Maria de Fátima’s own career has been somewhat overlooked. This vinyl is a reissue of her only solo album, recorded in 1981 in Uruguay, where she had settled with her then-husband, synth-player Hugo Fattoruso, who took on production duties. A fair amount of credit goes to the latter, as he introduces effects and echoes that lift the sultry, drifty, bossa-ish sound of de Fátima’s singing into a more ethereal, at times almost psychedelic and experimental realm.

Bahia Com H combines her own compositions with her takes on Brazilian standards by Ary Barroso, Denis Brean and Gilberto Gil among others. Candombe percussion, seeping into the studio from Uruguay, energises the mix, the beats frantic and random-seeming amid the smooth flow of vocals. The best songs, like ‘Você’ and ‘Movimento Dos Barcos’, are those where minor chords half-chime with de Fátima’s jazz-inflected voice, and melancholy clouds obscure the tedious sunshine. Sub-tropicália, if you like, with seasons and rain.