Um corpo no mundo

"This twentysomething Brazilian broke big in 2016 with the title track of this debut, launched through YouTube with an arthouse video that revealed a singer with a model's looks, a dancer's grace and a sharply honed political sensibility. "Um Corpo No Mundo" (A Body in the World) is a call for racial and gender respect, delivered with sultry insouciance to an airy samba melody and a simple backing of guitar, bass and percussion.The album, much garlanded in Brazil, follows suit, celebrating an Afro-Brazilian heritage felt keenly via Luna's politically active parents (who gave her her African first name) and her northern hometown of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil's most "African" region ... Luna's breezy vocals are well matched by the light touch of Swedish producer Sebastian Notini, who is nevertheless unafraid to add freeform sax to "Iodo + Now Frágil", a broadside from a woman who believes "there is nothing in the world today more revolutionary than the black women's movement". Yet Luna mixes her politics with romance, nature and a nod to the gods. An engaging newcomer".

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"When Salvador [city] established itself as the 'African soul' of Brazil in the mid-20th century, it was the music of Dorival Caymmi that soundtracked its new status. His simple, poetic, guitar-led paeans to Salvador were the unadorned, rootsy counterpoint to the urban hustle of Rio's samba. Luedji Luna, as with many other Bahian musicians since, seems intent on continuing this legacy. Her music is weightless, akin to floating on calm seas, lost in the sun and the sounds and undulations of the water. Acoustic guitar sets the speed of the tide; its mellifluous grooves and arpeggios, aided by subtly dextrous bass and the flickers of hand drums, give the songs effortless swing ... 'Banho de Folhas' became an instant summer classic when it was released in Brazil, and it is hard to resist, the addition of axé-style electric guitar and the most effervescent vocal on the album, taking you from calm seas to a beatific beach party to finish things off".