Cosmos

2013 release, the second album from the Italian Pop combo led by producer/songwriter/visionary Carlos Valderrama. Cosmos is flooded with groove and disco, with a clear '70s scent, marinating in the spices of Steely Dan, Lucio Battisti, Marcos Valle and David Axelrod. But it's also full of the contemporary influences that fed Carlos Valderrama as well as his recent passion for some Brazilian albums from the '70s. The result is an album capable of constantly keeping a summery, young, innocent mood, giving US the gift of seaside vacations, enjoying the most hedonistic spirit of pop and filling it with an appreciation of black culture. Recorded with a symphonic orchestra, a wind quartet, vintage material (none of the microphones or anything they used were from later than 1978), over a period of more than a year, Cosmos is a complex, ambitious album that offers a new dimension within pop, assimilating influences like only Valderrama and his group know how to do...