Little Electric Chicken Heart

Frango Elétrico’s name comes from the bastardisation of their original surname, Fainguelernt, and while Elétrico’s 2018 debut with its indie bent showed a lot of promise, it was on this second release in 2019 that their talent and ambition really shone. In so many ways this is an example of a Gen Z recording, a retro-maniacal plundering of the past for musical ideas by a non-binary artist who sings about insecurities from a gender queer perspective. This release was greeted with much acclaim and it was a clear indication at the time that we were entering a stage of post-MPB where all genres are shaken and stirred together to create something familiar but also fragmented and uncertain. I was a bit unconvinced at the beginning, but after listening to this album for a few years and its equally confident follow up, Me Chamo de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua, I am fully converted. There’s the bossa-light of opener ‘Saudade’ with its twinkling xylophone; the dramatic build of ‘Promessas e Previsões’, demonstrating confident songwriting skills; and ‘Tem Certeza?’ with its adoption of a thrashing Lanny Gordin-esque guitar, indicating both his continued influence and Elétrico’s enjoyment of Gal Costa’s influence.