Minas Terra

A native of Brazil’s Minas Gerais, Philadelphia-based Anne Simoni follows in some seriously venerable footsteps, citing the likes of Milton Nascimento as a formative influence. Yet many of the slick, flawlessly crafted songs that make up Minas Terra are as versed in an Anglophone tradition as they are a Brazilian one, even as the lyrics hark constantly back to the motherland. The likes of ‘Este Sentimento’, ‘Longe de Mim’ and ‘Retrato da Cidade’ are pretty much straight-up pop-rock ballads sung in Portuguese, while the English-language tracks ‘Back to Brazil’ and ‘Choose to Believe’ conjure up the spirit of 80s Brit-soul diva Sade, with Simoni making up in sultriness what her voice lacks in lustre. Almost all of them bear hooks strong enough to withstand endless daytime radio play. It’s perhaps not such a surprise, then, to learn that the maddeningly catchy ‘Papagaio’, recently scooped third place in the USA Songwriting Competition: it’s a baião with a whirligig melody and a candy-floss coating, smoothed of many of the form’s rowdier Brazilian edges and embellished with hints of Southern twang. It’s only when she relaxes that her art really flickers into shape, as heard in the graceful upswing of opener ‘Águas de Cambuquira’, the featherweight percussion of ‘Espera’ or the intimate groove of ‘Samba de Preguigça’. Whether these tracks will appeal to the same audience as her pop ballads is harder to say.