Check Ahead: Caetano Veloso, 'Abraçaço'

Caetano Veloso’s new album, Abraçaço, (which means “big hug”) is not some subdued, late-career exercise in nostalgia or retrospection. Though the record calms down a bit as it moves along, it uses the same band as Veloso’s previous album, Cê, which also surprised many listeners with its edgy rock sound.

Veloso was a pioneering figure in the Tropicalia movement of the 1960's, which changed the course of Brazil’s popular music scene and had a huge impact on wider Brazilian culture. Occasionally over the years, he has reminded us that some of his musical roots lie in rock music; 1989’s Estrangeiro, recorded with a number of leading “downtown” musicians in New York, is a good example. Like that album, Abraçaço (March 25) is full of strange and occasionally distorted sounds, which set off and highlight Veloso’s natural lyricism. If Iggy Pop ever tried writing a bossa nova song, it might sound something like the chorus of opening track “A Bossa Nova É Foda” -- except for the deep “throat singing” part; that sounds like it was borrowed from Central Asian music.

The record's title track is a lilting piece of indie pop that sports a squalling guitar solo. The quiet killer here may be “Estou Triste,” which does actually have a subdued, retrospective quality to it. Veloso’s falsetto has always had a tremulous, vulnerable sound; here, propelled by a softly insistent electric guitar, it eventually gives way to another gripping solo from Pedro Sa, who is in great form throughout. And the subtly evolving arrangement is a wonder. Throughout the record there are surprises: an almost country-style guitar riff on “Vinco,” for example, or the skittering rhythms and brief rapping on “Funk Melodico.”