Birds

Can that be the sweet sound of spring? On the strength of this fourth album by beloved London-based tropicalistas Da Lata (meaning ‘From the Tin’ in Portuguese), it would seem so. Danceable soul-jazz grooves with an Afro-Brazilian twist is the stock-in-trade of a group that was founded in 1994 by Chris Franck and the DJ Patrick Forge (who's been playing out these new tunes for a while) and has come together in various permutations ever since. While it's been six years since their last studio album, Fabiola, this current release is both a return to form and a reclaiming of their place at the vanguard of the UK/Brazilian music scene.

Opener ‘Mentality’ eases us into Da Lata's harmonic palette with bouncing baritone sax and skulking beats before Senegalese griot Diabel Cissokho weighs in on plaintive freewheeling vocals. The funky ‘Thunder of Silence’, another standout tune, is brought to life by Jason Yarde's sax arrangements and the soaring voice of clubland diva Bembe Segue. There are Yoruba chants on the horn-free Afrobeat number ‘Oba Lata’ (after the orisha Obatala, nice); while the syncopated baião groove from north-east Brazil meanders through ‘Lunar View’ and ‘Sway’. What with themes inspired by nature and love and a line-up boasting the UK's best and brightest, the time for renewal is right here.