David Byrne
Rei Momo

THE REVIEW

Effervescent, lively, joyful is the atmosphere that the sound, the notes of this Rei Momo make us breathe. Once again, the Scottish musician pulls out his great creativity from his top hat.

David Byrne, after having distanced himself from the Talking Heads project, dives into the sounds of Latin America, and more precisely Brazil. This debut solo album from '89 is a record full of musicality, overflowing with ideas, irony, and feeling. The first thing that strikes the ear is the fun he manages to convey, the joy in having composed this series of songs and offered them to us. The fun is also due to the vibrant energy of the Brazilian musicians involved, who helped and supported him in this endeavor.

Byrne, as an excellent artist and musician, succeeds in taking the elements that compose the character of Brazilian music and the countries of Latin America and in his own way, transforms and reinvents a sound, making it unique and original, creating a very rich, full-bodied, and very pleasant sound.

In the songs of this "King Carnival", David mixes, besides commonly known instruments, percussion, winds, accordions, and violins. The fifteen tracks that make up the album form a sound rainbow different from the usual musical path to which we had become accustomed. Even if certain references to the old "Talking Heads" seem inevitable and hard to erase with a sponge.

Just listen to "Independence day", rich in nuances, cheerful percussion, to realize that the T.H. are right behind the door. "Make believe mambo", with its South American rhythms, is a cheerful track, with a  brass section and a mariachi choir, making it one of the most listened to and enjoyable. A ballad filled with voices for a typically Brazilian sound is "Call of the wild", which opens the door to "Dirty Town", a great track rhythmically driven by percussion and led by Byrne's voice, the brass section highlighted by trombones makes this track one of the most accomplished. With "Rose Tattoo" we are in full chinano environment, its nice rhythmic section paves the way as we enter the Mocambo. And "Loco de amor" gives us a preview before moving on to "The dream police", a typically danceable track as they used to say, we see dancers on the floor moving to the rhythm that has now been unleashed. A brief pause with "Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World", gentle and light, the ironic vein is appreciable, excellently arranged, it makes us wait to listen to "Marching Through The Wilderness", an old-style mocambo track with percussion, voices, and refrain. We leave the mocambo to return to street sounds with "Good and Evil", nice and fun, together with "Lie to me" and "Office cowboy" bring us back to the tropical and South American rhythms full of verve and warmth. "Women vs men" takes us home at the end of this sonic journey, not before gifting us with a "Carnival eyes", where the title says it all, the violin section makes it unique and the percussion does all the rest. The album concludes with "I know sometimes a man is wrong", a small masterpiece of melody with an ironic and bitter text. And the party is over.

Needless to say, this is an album for sophisticated palates. The richness of the arrangements, the creativity, and the musical intelligence of David Byrne stand out proudly. If the adjectives that appear most in this writing are cheerful and joyful, it's not a coincidence. So why not listen to it in sad moments? I recommend it.