Review

Ana Frango Elétrico

Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua

Mr Bongo • 2023

It seems that the press for Ana Frango Elétrico has been limited so far in Germany. The third album by the artist and producer from Rio de Janeiro is a chance to change that. Her reinterpretation of Brazilian boogie is presented on »Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua« with lean, swinging productions, but nothing is missing from these songs that is used in Música Popular Brasileira: be it the diverse percussion, including drums and drum computers, extensive brass sections or, when required, strings. Ana Frango Elétrico’s voice, traditionally used, is charmingly restrained in expression and volume, sometimes allowing a little distortion to come into play, one of the details with which the music reminds us that it is not a nostalgic affair, but a self-confident appropriation of the present. The non-binary Ana Frango Elétrico, for example, sings about contemporary issues such as gender. Stylistically, she makes funky references to the eighties, conjures up the sixties in a sensual and lush way or simply combines her elements in such a way that it sounds above all like today, but with an audible historical basis. Ana Frango Elétrico doesn’t need much time to do this, two and a half or three minutes is usually enough to get across what she has to say in a song. That makes a good half-hour record, a very good one indeed.