Bebel Gilberto’s raised head on the sleeve of Agora is nothing trivial. This record has acted as a coping mechanism during a very challenging period in which she has lost her best friend and her mother (the singer Miúcha in December 2018) successively, followed by the death of her father six months later, the legendary singer and guitarist Joao Gilberto. Supported by her producer and close friend, the American Thomas Bartlett, also known as Doveman (Stufjan Stevens, Norah Jones, Anna Calvi …), Bebel has not thrown in the towel and offers us a less self-evident but more nuanced and mature record than Tanto Tempo (which helped her make a name for herself twenty years ago). Her bossa-nova parental heritage has always been underlying, but her singing is to so fixed and untroubled this time around as she turns towards her life. Tão Bom (so good) is what the singer declares on her rather ethereal and haunting opening which precedes the title track anchored in the present (Agora means “now”). The tracks cleanly move from one to the other and Bebel brings them alive with a sense of freedom thanks to her energetic improvisation. She embroiders melodies by using her voice as an instrument like an agile trumpet in combination with cool jazz. On Na Cara (“in the face”), she comes face to face with another legendary child, Mart’náliam the daughter of the great samba musician Martinho de Vila. Next up is Deixa, the album’s first single, like volatile champagne bubbles. But the best is yet to come. O Que Não Foi Dito (“what has not been said”), finds a beautiful balance between gravitas and lightness with almost martial tambours, dreamlike arrangements and moving vocals. The record closes on the waves with Teletransportador where, on top of some quirky somewhat retrofuturist mechanics, the voice of Bebel Gilberto displays a languid melody with tenderness and sincerity. © Benjamin MiNiMum/Qobuz