Sao Paulo-born Cibelle (pronounced See-bel-lay) drops her most adventurous work yet on The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves. Touches of samba remain, and the electro trappings that made her a hipster-lounge favorite are here as well. But all this is folded into a hard-to-pigeonhole new style that suggests Björk on working holiday in Brazil. Cibelle often projects the ebullience of Billie Holiday’s lighter side, as percussion rains down around her (“Mad Man Song”) or a languid soundscape is challenged by a rapidly ticking clock (“City People”). Everything comes together most successfully on the Seu Jorge collaboration “Arrete la, Menina,” which builds through several discrete movements in its five minutes. Also notable is the record’s nod toward Brazil’s avant-pop tradition, a cover of Caetano Veloso’s “London London” with Devendra Banhart. Both chill-out and challenge, Shine is as striking as its title image.
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