Due to my lack of language skills (yes, typical lazy Brit), there is a barrier to my fully understanding the songs here, but that, in itself, raises an interesting observation. Although Músicas para Brincar Ventar e Voar! (literally Songs to Play, Blow, and Fly!) is branded as a children’s album, without the lyrical context, it becomes something else; the music is anything but childlike.
Ana Pê has set out to make an album that “encourages children to value their feelings, respect their own boundaries”, songs that are as much about enlightenment and information as they are entertainment, so it follows that some seriously great music backs up such an important set of messages. The result is an album that combines pertinent discussion with infectious dance sounds.
‘Bloco das Crianças’ sets the tone nicely, with shuffling and infectious carnival beats, twin vocals, a wonderful walking bassline, and exotic sonics that weave together into something musically, and I wish to underline this, anything but children’s music.
‘Meu Corpo, Meu Templo Sagrado’ is a cool blend of Latin grooves and a Western indie vibe, poised and pacey with coils of brass and woodwind threaded through this song themed around ideas of respect and understanding what consent means, vital discussions to have as young people head out into the world.
Changing the mood, ‘Desenho Cego’ is spacious and balladic, a gorgeous duet that causes non-Portuguese speakers like me (again, I apologize for my lack of worldliness) to treat the vocals as instruments in their own right, and ‘Passarinho Branco’ is joyous yet gentle. The album rounds off with ‘Gira da Alegria’, a ska-grooved slice of upbeat energy, reminding us that music travels the world, going far beyond expectation, influencing and affecting as it goes; the sound here would not have felt out of place in the West Midlands of late seventies UK when the disillusioned punks and young rastas turned such sounds into their revolutionary and restless two-tone sound.
Músicas para Brincar Ventar e Voar! might be branded as an educational album, one with a message for those just heading into the adult world, but what Ana Pê has created here goes way beyond such a simple label.
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