When looking for new band or a new album to listen to, you want something that is going to create an impact and stay with you for one reason or another. Today we look at the brand new album by Maria João, Open Your Mouth

So firstly, who is Maria João?

Maria João is a Portuguese jazz singer who has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and is known for her unique style and improvised music skills. The 64 year old has been releasing music since the early eighties, leading to be an internationally renowned artist. She has worked with a number of artists including Joe Zawinul, Gilberto Gil, Egberto Gismonti, Trilok Gurtu and Manu Katché.

Let’s Talk about the album

This is the third album by the Portuguese singer and her OGRE Electric project and is the home of singles such as Say Something. This album ventures into the world of electronic music whilst also delving into the world of urban and grooves. The aim of the album is to take the listener on a journey around mysterious dreamworlds and interesting soundscapes.

Stand Out Tracks on The album 

Open Your Mouth

This is the opening track and at the beginning you are welcomed by whispers. This song sets up a sort of narrative in speech whilst also telling it in different languages. It is an interesting and unique way to open up an album but I think it’s also set up the style of who Maria is in this album. When the music does eventually start to come in and build p music feels quite wispy and the Jazz electric vibes start to slowly introduce themselves. The song itself introduces a prominent beat underneath words of Maria and feels like an interesting perception of Electronic music.

Respiros

This song opens with a slow melodic electronic sound which feels like a dreamlike state, it is slow and intriguing to hear. The song develops throughout to have a prominent beat and sound that to me feels a little bit like its influenced by Drum and bass but with a more electronic Jazz vibe to it. The song again has a lot of spoken word throughout. The end of this song it gets really confusing with the vocals of Maria it feels like a tape that is on fast forward. It’s quite hard to listen to it and feels like it’s for a very specific audience. The song’s tempo and melodies throughout change very suddenly which means it can be quite unusual for the ear.

I Get Loud

This song feels very different to a lot of the songs from the album as it has a very prominent bass line to it and has more of a jazz feel than an electronic feel, which is quite refreshing. It feels like it sort of comes as a divider in the album. This song still follows the conventions of the album and has some spoken word throughout but it also has singing as well. The singing happens throughout the track and it’s quite nice to hear as it shows you the talents of Marias vocals.

What’s The Verdict?

This album is very unique from start to finish with a lot of interesting tracks on the way, however I would personally say it’s for a very selective audience. It is very individual in style and around every twist and turn there is a new sound you are introduced to. There is no doubt in saying that Maria is a talented individual because she takes risks its create something different. However the album is very intense and it may not be everybody’s cup of tea. I would say this is an album you listened to for appreciation of the complexity of creating an electric jazz style album and delving into unusual sounds however, it may not be something you listen to day-to-day.

Rating: 5/10