Following the enormous success of Tribalistas, on which Arnaldo Antunes worked together with Marisa Monte and Carlinhos Brown, Saiba is Antunes' sixth solo album. And on this one he continues his now-familiar flirtation with melodious pop music that was so apparent on both Tribalistas and his previous solo effort, Paradeiro. In spite of the light pop format, Antunes never loses his musical and lyrical originality, depth and finesse. In fact, in many ways he sounds more inspired than ever. Among the songs, the delightful "Se Assim Quiser" and "Imaginou" are the most "pop," "Elisabete no Chuí" is Brazilian funk, while the title track, "Itapuana," and "Cabimento" exhibit Antunes' own brand of singer/songwriter music. To conclude the album, Antunes also turns Noel Rosa's old classic "A Razão dá-se a Luem Tem" into a very surprising and very enjoyable punk rock song. The production is excellent and Saiba is probably Antunes' strongest solo release yet.
© Philip Jandovský /TiVo