Femina, the fourth
Legendary Tiger Man full-length, is a duets album pairing multi-instrumentalist Paulo Furtado with various female vocalists on a mix of originals and covers in a bluesy garage rock style. One of Furtado's most enjoyable releases to date, it showcases his behind-the-scenes talents as a songwriter, guitarist, collaborator, and producer. At the same time, it minimizes his frontman duties. As multi-talented as he is, vocals aren't one of Furtado's strengths, and in a way, it's nice to hear him cede the spotlight to various female vocalists from around the world. Splitting his time between the
Legendary Tiger Man, a one-man band solo project, and
Wraygunn, his full-time band, Furtado has been a busy man in recent years. Though not big sellers, his previous
Legendary Tiger Man albums, Naked Blues (2002),
Fuck Christmas, I Got the Blues (2003), and Masquerade (2006), were well-received critically and led to a tour in support of
Pulp frontman
Jarvis Cocker. In the meantime, his band
Wraygunn grew more successful with each album, hitting the Top 20 in 2007 with
Shangri-La. It's a testament to Furtado's reputation as an iconic Portuguese rock guitarist, going back to his decade-long stint with the
Tédio Boys in the '90s, that so many reputable female vocalists show up on
Femina, 11 of them in all. They include
Cibelle (Brazil), Peaches (U.S.), Becky Lee (U.S.),
Lisa Kekaula (U.S.),
Asia Argento (Italy),
Phoebe Killdeer (France), and five Portuguese vocalists. Everyone sings in English. Standout performances include "Life Ain't Enough for You" with
Argento, "No Way to Leave on a Sunday Night" with Lee, "I Just Wanna Know (What We're Gonna Do)" with
Cibelle, and "Hey, Sister Ray" with
Rita Redshoes. As for cover material, there are versions of
Lee Hazlewood's "These Boots Are Made for Walking" and
Baker Knight's "Lonesome Town," plus bonus track versions of
Danzig's "Thirteen" and
Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End." ~ Jason Birchmeier