O paraíso

"The gentle hints of bossa nova and samba combined with organic-sounding percussions, colourful wind instruments and atmospheric electronic textures are an ode to life and the collective forces that work to protect it. The multilingual O Paraíso delivers Santtana's message to an international audience with lyrics in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. His cover of Paul McCartney's 1967 "Fool on the Hill" brings in Flore Benguigui from the French band L'Imperatrice as a word of caution, that climate catastrophe is closer to us than ever. Santtana and Benguigui take the role of shaman, delivering a gorgeous, liquid jazzy samba; encouraging us to slow down and marvel at nature, the paradise right in front of us".

Læs anmeldelse

"With a soft tenor voice, and accompanied by his delicate guitar playing, and skilfully integrated synthesised wind instruments, Santanna sings dreamily in praise of nature and our place within it. He sings in Portuguese, English and French, in a manner that soothes: these are incantations as much as protest songs. In "La biosphère", he contrasts the sauvage - the wild rather than the savage - with the "civilised", and the choice we face between embracing life or death ... The poetic and intellectual sophistication of the album is carefully framed within a musical context that is beguiling in its almost child-like simplicity. There is nothing overdone or baroque about Santtana's songs. As in so much of the best Brazilian music, the spirituality is well grounded in lilting samba rhythms and a delicacy overflowing with magic".

Læs anmeldelse

"The ninth album from the Brazilian finds him reacting with alarm to (now-deposed) President Bolsonaro. "Conflict became a mode of governance", he says, and the message is that "Paradise exists - right here". A cover of "The Fool On The Hill" sits uncomfortably (it's very Sérgio Mendes) among several Santtana-penned highpoints. "Errare Humanum Est", with its looping outro, is undeniably gorgeous".