Released: 2004
Tracks: Simplesmente; Aganjú; All Around; River Song; Every Day You’ve Been Away; Cada Beijo; O Caminho; Baby; Céu Distante; Winter; Jabuticaba; Next to You
Best Track: Next to You
Track to skip: Every Day You’ve Been Away
I love her voice, I love the instruments, I love the rhythms and I love the overall sound, but on a whole most of these songs don’t grab me – the compositions themselves don’t pull me in. That’s essential for any music and that’s what I can finally say is the problem with this album. I got it when it came out and there’s always something that didn’t quite work for me. It’s the songs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bebel’s previous album, Tanto Tempo. It’s one of my favorite albums ever…by anyone. I guess it doesn’t surprise me that this album might be a letdown. It simply
can’t be as good as the last one…right? I could subscribe to that, but it doesn’t work for me. Musicians always have the possibility of topping an astounding album with its follow up. It can definitely happen if everything is working in their favor. But…it didn’t happen here. This album really is a letdown from Tanto Tempo. A MAJOR letdown. I just don’t think the songs are as good…they don’t move me as well as the previous batch.
To be honest, on the whole I do like this album. And I try to be as open-minded about it and not compare it to the rest of Bebel’s output, but it’s inevitable. I do listen to this album a lot, and there’s certainly a ton I love about it. River Song is great and really makes my insides smile. Next to You is probably my favorite song that Bebel’s ever done. It has an absolutely stellar melody and her voice sounds heavenly on it. Next to You is such a gorgeous song. It’s one of those that I like to just put on repeat and melt away. Of course it’s the highlight of the disc.
The only song that really bored me was Every Day You’ve Been Away. There’s just not a lot there to hold my interest. As for the other songs, some are enjoyable; some are fine though easily forgettable. I did notice the “production” more on a few of these songs today, Aganjú and Cada Beijo in particular. Maybe it really is due to the producer. Bebel’s producer, Suba, was killed in a car wreck after Tanto Tempo was released and maybe he was the key to everything. I’ll have to pick up his album one of these days to see how it is.
Something was a bit off for this album, though I’m leaning toward the songwriting. Unfortunately, it didn’t really get corrected on her following album. Whatever. I do love the sound of Bebel’s voice on this album. She sounds amazing as ever…and she looks gorgeous on the album cover too. That’s always a bonus!
Rating: 83
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