Brazilian Icons Form New 'tribe'

Three of the greatest icons of contemporary Brazilian pop music—Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes, and Carlinhos Brown—last month released a joint album on EMI Brazil. Tribalistas (Tribalists) includes 13 new songs reminiscent of Doces Bárbaros, the quartet created by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethania, and Gal Costa in the '70s as part of the Tropicalia movement that Gil and Veloso spearheaded and which was known as much for its music (which introduced electric guitars and instruments to popular Brazilian music) as its socially charged lyrical content.

In joining forces, the three artists—whose paths have crossed many times during their careers—manage to sound unlike anything else in Brazilian pop; in fact, they don't sound like themselves as soloists, either.

Mixing nylon and steel-stringed acoustic guitars with plain percussion, the album was recorded in 15 days. The repertoire was worked on more than one year before, when Monte went to Salvador, Bahia, to record a special appearance on Antunes' album, which Brown produced.

"We stayed together for one week, and as usually happens when we are together, we wrote a lot of songs," Monte says. By the end of that week, more than 20 songs were almost finished. One year later, the three artists met at Monte's house in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and recorded the album, which also features Bahian singer Margareth Menezes on "Passe em Casa."

EMI will also release a DVD about the making of the album. Cameras installed in the studio filmed every aspect of the two-week recording process, allowing fans to view the day-to-day album production, including rehearsals, creation of the arrangements, and discussion of lyrics.

High expectations surround the project, which currently occupies the No. 2 spot (for the second consecutive week) on Brazil's sales charts. But none of the three artists plans to promote the album or tour around it—a position that matches the philosophy of the disc.

"I believe that the lyrics of the [title] track speak of very simple facts: trading absolutes, dogmas, the establishment, and God for the joy of living every day as a community," Arnaldo says. "That's where the idea of the tribe comes from: no absolutes, no judgments, no religion—nothing."