Within the well composed songs of Brazil’s Rodrigo Amarante lives a passion. A passion for songwriting and a passion for displaying emotion while keeping the burning fires of feeling coursing throughout. To live, to love and to lose all traipse their way through his new album Drama. There’s forever a flowing rhythm where the emotions come and go but the passion to deliver them never leaves.

The title track “Drama” opens things up and readies your ears for what’s next. The way the strings copulate with the composition and the background sounds of laughter is mesmerizing in its approach. This is followed by “Mare” where the singer songwriter takes you deep into his highly arranged sound. The music washes over you like you’ve been transported far away. The acoustic and the way his vocals have a sultry touch mix well with the hand drums. When the brass comes in it just adds to the rhythmic journey. While “Tango” has this Parisian sound as if you’re witnessing two lovers passionately dancing in the street in the south of France. The vocals intertwine with the rhythmic tones of the guitar and the backing choral vocals to make your heart beat.

But the album just elevates your sense of music in general. Where “Tanto” creates this Tropicalia tone that makes you want to dance, “I Can’t Wait” hypnotizes you with its spacey notes. The slow roll of the song has this entrancing sound that just draws a picture through sound. “Sky Beneath” gives you the notes that sway you to a hammock somewhere while “Um Milhao” just sweeps you off of your feet with a swooning epiphany that you cannot shake. And while the whole album is magical in all points, the favored song here comes with “Tara.” The way the strings meet the acoustic create a sound that feels like something bigger than you can imagine. Amarante’s vocals have this sultry swagger in how they tenderly call to you. His gentle approach against the gentle sprinkles of sound is captivating before the brass and backing vocals give you a big band sound. Like a jazz pop structure in many ways, the song is a gem that continuously gives to you through a passionate resonance.

Drama is available to purchase directly from Polyvinyl Records. It can also be purchased in all digital outlets or streamed on all platforms. Rodrigo Amarante is on tour starting October 22 at The Ford in Los Angeles, CA until May 08, 2022 in Nantes, France at Le Lieu Unique. His tour schedule can be accessed here.

Image Credits: Photo by Eliot Lee Hazel.