Lovely Difficult

Is it world music? Is it pop? It’s hard to be sure. Sung in French, English, Creole and Portuguese, recorded by Lily Allen’s producer in Brighton and with something for manifold musical markets, Mayra Andrade’s new album is certainly eclectic. Fans of her earlier albums will be pleased by tracks like ‘Téra Lonji’ (a funky coladeira), and ‘Trés Mininu’. But they’ll be puzzled by the indie sound of ‘We Used to Call it Love’, a kind of Lily Allen ditty, though not so witty. Her French fans will enjoy tracks like the French songwriter Yann Walcker’s lovely, languid ‘Le Jour se Lève’ and Andrade includes some MPB for her listeners from Brazil – where she has been spending time lately with the likes of Carlinhos Brown. Lovely Difficult sees Andrade torn between the safe but small harbour of world music and the open sea of international pop. Cape Verde has always been a cultural transformer, taking language, instruments and styles that came to islands from Europe, Africa and Brazil, and rendering them Cape Verdean. Andrade needs to do the same – absorb all the influences that have made her who she is, integrate them and produce a sound, which while international is truly her own. In trying to give a little bit to everyone she loses rather than gains musical identity.