Lucas Santtana – O Paraíso (NØ FØRMAT!, 2023)
“O Paraíso” is the fascinating ninth solo album by Brazilian musician Lucas Santtana. The artist from Bahia uses his delightful, serene vocals and an exquisite mix of acoustic music and electronics to celebrate the beauty of our planet (paradise) and the urgency to protect it.
Lucas Santtana sings in several languages, Portuguese, Spanish, English and French, delivering his message to a wide international audience.
“O Paraíso” was developed during the pandemic. Santtana explains, “It was like a message sent to us by the animal kingdom in the face of a suffocation that has now long been foretold. The floods, fires, droughts, tsunamis, delayed monsoons, melting glaciers and oil spills are all alarm bells that we don’t want to hear.”
The musical arrangements on “O Paraíso” are truly beautiful. Lucas Santtana and his colleagues skillfully interweave acoustic guitars, irresistible Brazilian rhythms, a colorful wind instrument section and occasional, finely crafted electronic music atmospheres and sampling.
Lucas Santtana has a message for Elon Musk, the former visionary who has become distracted with Twitter, conspiracy theories and questionable pursuits: “I’d like to say to Elon Musk that it’s stupid to want to go to Mars when we have the immense possibility of living on the only habitable planet on the solar system…”
O Paraiso was a chance “to change our cultural references,” says Santtana. “Brazilians have never had to play a hegemonic role, because Brazil has never been a country of mediation. Rather, my country has always afforded an opportunity for coexistence. But when the far-right came to power in 2018, conflict became a mode of governance.
“The struggle to safeguard Amazonia has become an essential one, defining the conditions for the survival of all those who inhabit that blue biosphere known as the earth.”
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.