Alex Malheiros – Tempos Futuros

Step aside: the brazilian bass king is back and better than ever. Meet Alex Malheiros and his newest studio album, "Tempos Futuros"

Past, present and future.

These are words that almost always sound like a cliché, with no real impact on the essence of their creation – and they regularly feature in our vocabulary. The music we listen to, the rhythm we dance to, the leaps we will make at the following year’s concert.

We always put our personal stamp on everything around us – and that’s what really defines our side of the story.

We’re passionate about music, whether it’s the more traditional music that marked our grandparents’ generation or the music that will mark our long-awaited and beloved children. We vibrate with the nostalgia of hearing the past in the new, with that unmistakable style that is impossible to be indifferent to.

Today we’re talking about a legend of Brazilian music. From 1973 to 2021 we’ve flown almost 50 years. The essence is still there, and it’s with Alex Malheiros that we will follow a crazy journey of sounds, rhythms and vibrations that will not leave any listener indifferent. Take a look at his most recent solo work.

TEMPOS FUTUROS

TEMPOS FUTUROS cover

In 1973, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, an incredible band was born that mixed funk, samba, jazz and lots and lots of improvisation. It marked a generation, which still inspires the younger ones to do more and better in music. I’m talking about Azymuth, by Fernando Moraes, Alex Malheiros and Ivan Conti. The talent they presented on stage is unanimous for those who listened to them: they are creative, positive with a huge talent.

In 2021 we arrive at “Tempos Melhores”, the third solo record of one of the most eloquent bass players in the world, that we can listen to many times in such distinct and charismatic artists that go from Jorge Bem, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, Stevie Wonder or Chick Corea.

This album was recorded in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a view to envy – the beaches of Guanabara and the valleys and forests of pure nature that so characterize the Brazilian landscape. It promises us a historic journey between past and future, the rhythm of the 70s-80s and the MTV generation, with plenty of glamour along the way.

It was produced by London-based producer Daniel Maunick, and Alex Malheiros is not alone in this adventure: Daniel Maunick can be heard on Organ, Synths & Effects, Additional Keyboards and Drums & Percussion, Sidinho & Ian Moreira at Percussion, Sabrina Malheiros on Vocals, Sean Khan on Saxophone, Victor Bertrami and Renato Massa drumming the world and last, but not least, Dudu Viana, on Keyboards.

We have twelve songs, with an hour-long trip on the way.

It starts with “The Razor’s Edge”, a theme that grows inside us, over beats that we easily associate with Brazilian music, but which, with the touch of more futuristic instruments like keyboards or synthesizers, bring a sound closer to the future of our species than to dinosaurs. The result? A song worthy of a science fiction film, set, clearly, in Rio de Janeiro.


We up the ante, and it is with “Telegramas para Arp” and “Retrato” that we add to the future the fruit and wisdom of the past and present. The result? A sonic explosion, always with the bass in the foreground, guiding us through the almost improvised crossings that are exposed around us.


In “Prece” we are gifted with the magical voice of Sabrina Malheiros. Accompanied by a clear imprint of Brazilian music, we receive the future of samba in our ears. The theme is passionate and follows the roots of the country’s music, impossible therefore to leave the foot on the floor.


“Nikiti” and “Kuarup” come to us in a tone of curiosity, with beats that could be perfectly included in video games from the 80’s/90’s, similar to the SFX sounds we heard as kids and that we can’t forget.


In a tempestuous way and with no end in sight, we reach “O Temporal” (The Thunderstorms). And it’s on it that we are, definitively, wrapped in a storm. The drums follow in symbiosis with the rest of the instruments that feed this narrative and, out of nowhere, we are sucked into it. It’s tasty, like a journey.


And it is with “Alto Verão” that we cry in a nostalgic tone with the nostalgia that summer makes us. Those endless days, with heat all day, friends, waves, sand and much, much happiness. We closed our eyes for a few minutes and, to the sound of the music and the incredible voice of Sabrina Malheiros, we returned to June/July, in Portugal. To our regret, we reopened our eyes and felt again the autumn cold that is currently in our country.


We close with a golden key, and it is to the sound of “Sereno”, “Marcinha”, “Tempos Futuros” and “Requiem for a Storm” that we see Alex Malheiros opening all his soul and all the splendour of his creativity. The passion he conveys to us certainly comes from the heart – and that is why we enjoyed this adventure so much.


Arrive, see and win: “Tempos Futuros” is just that, the past, present and future in front of us, with the taste and rhythm of samba always in the foreground. A WtMM recommendation.

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