If I knew that Rodrigo Leão was a founding member of Madredeus I'd be better prepared for what I listened when I slipped this in the CD player of a used records shop in Lisbon. The name of Portishead's Beth Gibbons on the cover sticker had me thinking this'd be some kind of Portuguese trip-hop, but opener "Cinema" welcomed me with soft keyboards and lyrical strings that did indeed seem to belong to an arthouse movie rather than a pop CD. Follower "Rosa" continues in the same mood, with dreamy vocals by Brazilian singer Rosa Passos giving it a bossanova flavour. "Lonely Carousel" is a smoky, sensual tango with Gibbons on vocals, "Jeux D'amour" is a soft ballad and "La Fête" a sweet waltz, both sung in French by the Belgo-Portuguese Helena Noguerra. The album justifies its title by containing many instrumentals that sound as if they've escaped from the soundtrack of Amelie or some other equally stylish European film. Of those, "A Comédia de Deus" and "A Estrada" are lively quasi-tangos with strings and accordeon, "Memórias" and "Uma História Simples"' strings will make you feel warm and fuzzy, while "A Cidade Queimada", "O Último Adeu" and "António" (featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano) are stark and melancholic piano pieces. The Gift's Sónia Tavares takes the lead vocal for the Portishead-like "Deep Blue", jazzy torch song "Happiness" and Americana-waltz "L'Inspecteur" (think Calexico in French). This is an album I can listen to countless times back-to-back. It's not pop, classical, jazz or folk, just beautiful introspective music - perfect for relaxation and daydreaming. I feel stingy for only giving it 4* but I'm convinced it's an objectively fair rating.
***** for Lonely Carousel, Jeux D'amour
**** for Cinema, Rosa, A Comédia de Deus, Memórias, Deep Blue, Happiness, La Fête, A Estrada, L'Inspecteur, António
*** for A Cidade Queimada, Uma História Simples, O Último Adeus
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