Sonho Real

It's ten years since Flavia Coelho moved from her native Brazil to Paris, where she created a reggae-tinged mixture she christened ‘bossa muffin’ and which still feels like a relevant epithet today, though perhaps not in the way intended. Sonho Real is steeped in reggae and dub influences, but it's that ‘bossa’ element that is wanting. With very minimal Brazilian influences, it feels as if bossa here is merely shorthand for a more formalised, bourgeois take on reggae – much as bossa nova initially was to samba in Brazil. This is anodyne music with very few surprises, turning reggae into a smooth cosmopolitan groove that is well played and produced, but frustratingly toothless. Tracks such as ‘Se Ligue’, ‘Pura Vida’ and ‘Paraiso’ huff and puff but they never get going, offering danceable rhythms but with no bite in the lyrics or delivery. There are some good moments: ‘Nada Perdi’ is a slinky pseudo-reggae à la Manu Chao; ‘Leidi’ a much-needed dose of upbeat ska; and last track ‘Temontou’ is a beautiful pop ballad sung in French. But these are exceptions rather than the rule.