AS SEGUNDAS INTENÇÕES DO MANUAL PRÁTICO

Ed Motta insists in a pop concept that is at least 25 years old. It’s the concept of the tune that "is delicious to listen to on the radio, in a cold night", as written in the press-release of As Segundas Intenções and used to describe the ballad À Deriva, with lyrics by Zélia Duncan. Definitely, the current Ed Motta is lot more on the Cassiano (Brazilian soul master from the 70s) than on the Lulu Santos (black music/pop hit maker from the 80s and 90s) side. The latter, by the way, wrote the lyrics for Pisca Alerta, which features a fine brass section. Ed is fixated on details, on the beauties hidden in brief passages. He crafts and pries into the past in search for sound delicacies, untouched by modern spices. Music-wise, As Segundas Intenções is impeccable: João Donato, Ed Lincoln, the soul music from Philadelphia, the missed timbres of analog keyboards, Stevie Wonder, Azymuth, Horace Silver, Steely Dan and so many other excellent references are combined in a chic party. Colombina (lyrics by Rita Lee) is the most pop and contemporary track in the album, with an almost sacrilegious house beat. On the other hand, Outono no Rio is a jazz-ballad, with vibraphone opening and rich orchestration. In between those are the songs that ride along the 70s funk with jazz, samba and bossa incursions. Ed’s greatest personal accomplishment in this album seems to be A Tijuca em Cinemascope, a movie-like instrumental track, homage to respectable soundtrack makers like Henri Mancini. Maybe it’s time that the record company let the singer make the experimental, jazzy album that he longs for – this one has almost made it.(Silvio Essinger)