Camaleao Borboleta

Graveola's third album Camaleo Borboleta is fired with socially conscious lyrics concerning the power of the internet, native Brazilian-Indian struggles and issues around marijuana legalization. Graveola's unique brand of alt-pop sees tropicalia, samba, rock Brasileira and Brazilian folk rhythms cannibalize international genres to create strange hybrids they've labelled psychedelic maracatu, shamanic funan, weird salsa, schizo-rock-fake-reggae and melancholic internet love ballad - all examples of Graveola's carnival cannibalism approach to making music. Oddball arrangements recall Os Mutantes in their prime with nave melodies, a hazy sensibility and Brazilian folk rhythms giving their music a distinctly Brazilian take on indie that ranks them as torchbearers of the new alt-tropical movement in South America, alongside acts such as Meridian Brothers and Juana Molina. The band has been heavily involved in recent occupations of government buildings against what they consider a coup in Brazil. Album opener Maquinrio is a psychedelic maracatu (a rhythm from the north of Brazil) and a song about personal transformation where airplanes ask butterflies for the wind that makes them fly and vice versa. ndio Maracan is a shamanic funan (a Cape Verdean rhythm) inspired by the native Brazilian Indians who occupied the former native Indian museum in Rio in 2014 to try and prevent it being demolished in the lead-up to the World Cup. The group are joined by Samuel Rosa (Skank) on Talism, where the narrator lists various symbols that he encounters on a journey to personal freedom. Tempero Segredo is Jos Luis Braga's tribute to all the herbs that increase levels of awareness. Jos also wrote Sem Sentido which features a mix of rhythms popular from the north of Brazil such as frevo and bolero and talks about the enabling power the internet offers people. Aurora, Costi and Back in Bahia were written by Brina. She describes Aurora as a sexy-Latin arrocha (Bahian rhythm) that's a love letter to the Spanish sea with a chorus in 12/8 and Costi as a tribute to my Spanish cousin's 90 year old socialist and feminist grandmother. With a nod to the Gilberto Gil, Back in Bahia is, according to Luiza, a collapsed bossa that features polyrhythms from the Argentinian music style chacarera. Recorded in the band's hometown of Belo Horizonte under guidance from legendary Brazilian producer Chico Neves (Cu, Lenine) the six-piece have deliver their most electric, compelling work to date, a decade since their formation.