Brazilian Girls - Let's Make Love

Brazilian Girls
Let's Make Love
2018
Spotify

Brazilian Girls always seemed just a little bit cooler than you. They lived in New York in their early career and portrayed a dance vibe that was alternative and slick. The group went their separate ways almost a decade ago but then reunited for a string of shows back in 2015/2016. A friend of mine introduced me to them at that time, regretting that she had never been to one of their live shows. I went with her to The Roxy and was transfixed on Sabina their lead singer as she wormed her way across the stage in an avante garde looking wedding dress. She got off stage during a song, smoked a cigarette or joint out front, came back through the crowd, grabbed my face and told me I looked beautiful before jumping back on stage. It was fucking magical and I fell in love with the band. When "Pussy Pussy Marijuana" came on it seemed like the entire crowd lit up, and the same has happened to every show I've been to since. This new album Let's Make Love is more a of a celebration this time around, ditching some of the more dour leanings on their last records. The band slides more in line with the 80s than ever before reminiscent of Talking Heads and some of the other synthwave stuff coming out at that time. The organ blares throughout most of the record with the drums placed firmly on the floor keeping the dance heart of everything they do very much alive. Sabina on the first track sets the stage for what she wants this album to be, a statement about "sleeping more and sleeping with someone more". Leave ti to Brazilian Girls to boil their music down to it's very core, one clean easy to digest message without a whole lot of frills.

The thing I like about Brazilian Girls is how easy their music feels without being dumbed down. You could listen to this on a beach or barefoot at a bar, or in a super hip hotel, it works across the board. The record is rather long, and actually replaces one they claimed was going to be released a year or so ago called The Critic. Yet Let's Make Love sails by on a cloud until "Woman in the Red" comes on with this intense electronic fuzz. It's the first track that takes the aggression up musically but it couldn't come at a better moment just as you are almost lulled into their tropical bliss they put an all out dance track right into your face. The pessimistic bend is still there on songs like "Impromptu" and "The Critic" where Sabina decries capitalistic monotony and argues that work culture is turning paradise into "a pile of ashes". The vibe doesn't last long though and She continues to take you inward trying to find self actualization through actually confronting the self. They also manage to keep their more jam bandy tendencies in check on Let's Make Love avoid the 2 and three minute free form experiences that they sometimes can slip in to. Brazilian Girls are not trying to reinvent the wheel on this album, which actually serves them well. If the band came with something completely different after a 10 year absence it would feel a bit hollow and disappointing. The record does feel like it is kind of front loaded with the brightest tracks sort of sliding into an anticlimactic end. Yet all in all Let's Make Love is a fantastic return to form for the alternative dance stalwarts. At least the title is something we can all agree on.

7.9 out of 10