I couldn’t claim to have been previously aware of the work of Brazillian Girls (thankfully Wikipedia could - the definitive acid test of generic popular ignorance). Well, this is, in essence, their debut album after all, so I don’t feel too ashamed to be a fresh-faced virgin listener. First impressions? A poor man's CSS perhaps (besides not actually hailing from Brazil)… or a believably bossa nova Nouvelle Vague. Nothing too challenging here, an ebbing saccharine tide of cheerful electro, married with chipper vocals, easygoing bass lines and a healthy twist of off beat, mellow grooves.

Having spent a previous life laying down jazz tracks, lead singer Sabina Sciubba uses her considerable vocal skill to offer up a banquet of multi-lingual, sunshine ridden delights, buoyed by her steel drumming, synth obsessed, down-tempo accomplices. The chilled vibe is peppered in places with more up-tempo, dance styled tracks such as the fuzzy ‘Jique’ and reggae

infused ‘Pussy’.

This is not to say that all here is sweetness and light, with peculiarly titled and contextually ambiguous tracks such as ‘Talk to the Bomb’ and ‘Sweatshop’ adding dimensions to what may have otherwise seemed a lyrical no-brainer.

The UK version of this self-titled offering (combining tracks from both of The Girls' US releases) is stuffed with extras and remixed treats by such must-have names as MSTKRFT, and despite sporting a hefty seventeen tracks, this album just about refuses to drag.

Innately listenable, slim, sweet and smooth, no great hits but nothing damning, a soundtrack equally fitting for your lazy Sunday morning jog as it is for initiating the run up to that unexpected, epic night on the town. Even, it would seem, as an accompaniment to an uncomfortable computer chair in a small patch of British sunshine - little of the gorgeously uplifting effect is tarnished. ‘Brazilian Girls’ may not provide you with your long desired musical epiphany, but it will certainly be one of the well-worn feel good fallbacks of my summer.

Review by Carla Washborne
www.braziliangirls.info / www.vervemusicgroup.com