It would hard to live up to the level of anticipation surrounding this debut from Brazilian producer Gui Boratto after his string of tantalizing singles, so I wasn't surprised when it didn't quite meet my expectations. There are plenty of enjoyable moments, but not nearly as many as there should be.
While it's true that he does paint his canvas with brighter colors than many of his contemporaries, some parts seem cut from the standard Kompakt mold. The beginning especially suffers from a few monotonous stretches, with a limited palette of sounds and few rhythms or beats I haven't heard before. However, the album does get better as it progresses, especially when Boratto strays from formulas and tries new things. "Terminal" starts to pick things up a bit, even if it's not particularly groundbreaking, and a nice change after about four minutes into "Shebang" saves the song from its annoying beginning. There aren't a wide variety of textures on the album, although the title track has some welcomed noisier sounds that add some necessary grit.
Dance music isn't particularly known for its brevity, but for the most part it is Boratto's shorter songs that work the best. "Mal√° Strana" is a quieter, much-appreciated interlude, signaling the prettier direction that follows with "Acrostico." "Xilo"makes good use of a guitar, enriching the album with another compositional element. "Beautiful Life," with vocals by Luciana Villanova, is the closest the album gets to an accessible pop song, but at eight and a half minutes long the point drags a bit. Still, it's another pleasant shift in the right direction. "Hera" has a strange, warped collapse before the main melody returns with a new rhythmic undercurrent. The album could have used more surprises like this.
Boratto gets better as he stretches further out of his comfort zone. It takes him a while to get going, and a trim or two might have tightened the focus. Still, there are some great songs here. It just takes a little work to find them.
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