posted: 2024-04-24 Corpos de água sonhos tomam conta

The ethereal soundscapes presented on the opening track “uma súplica” make the inevitable impact of the heavy, pounding shoegaze instrumentation of the following “oração do mar” all the more impactful. She still embraces these pleasant, inviting sounds alongside the longing vocals and gruff guitar of the summery “tuas pegadas,” with songwriting primarily building around these beautiful atmospheres, rather than aiming for the spectacle of a payoff.

This does leave “o oceano de solaris” wandering within itself, but she strikes a perfect balance on “de areia e sal,” with instant gratification that never wanes, due to its mellow moments expanding towards greater catharsis. She delivers yet again with the explosive, grandiose finale “trilhas de água,” although the “scarborough fair (cântico)” cover also plays into its quieter, unsettling ambience well.

While this isn’t a collab album like some of her past projects, features help diversify her sound throughout, especially João Virtudes’ growling performance complimenting the overwhelming presence of “a sétima onda.” Not only is corpos de água the strongest solo record I’ve heard from sonhos toman conta, it’s one of the best albums in her growing catalog to date, as she remains one of my favorite modern shoegaze artists to follow.

Hayden7575, AotY