DNA

Expatriate life can widen an artist's range or dilute their roots, or perhaps both. The work of Flavia Coelho from Rio de Janeiro seems to have mainly flourished under the grey light of Paris, opening her native samba and MPB to the global beat of reggae, the rootless flow of hip-hop and the inflectious rhythm of cumbia – which might have its origins in Brazil's neighbour, Colombia, but rarely crosses the Amazon. Opening song ‘De Novo de Novo’ is a declaration of intent: upbeat, swaggering, with a catchy, off-the-cuff refrain, ‘again, again.’

The title-track is like Chico Buarque married to a dirge-like dance shuffle. ‘Cidade Perdida’, as much an exercise in spoken word as a song, works its way through layers of voice, pared-back synths and a basic back-beat towards lush crescendos of sound. Other songs sashay through trap, baile funk and Caribbean rhythms, but always guided by Coelho's languorous, lilting vocals and vital energy. Slick production by Victor Vagh-Weinmann weaves in lots of elements, but the whole package is never heavy handed, leaning towards dub and old-school electronica. Even a classical turn by the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris is muted. That's the standout strength of DNA: the switching between musicality and space, melody and message, generating a spectrum of moods from sun-blessed optimism to urban nostalgia, from the favelas to the banlieues.