Sessa - Grandeza (2019)

A long-time fixture of American and Brazilian music scenes, as collaborator with NY guitar legend Yonatan Gat and co-founder of São Paulo psych-rockers Garotas Suecas, Sessa debuts his stunning solo work, Grandeza.

His songs are sung in Portuguese, with visceral, sensual lyrics in the vain of Caetano Veloso, and the melodic flourishes of Jobim. However, the music gets a deliberate minimalist treatment rarely found in contemporary Brazilian music, more reminiscent of the bareness of Leonard Cohen, with touches of tropicalia and free jazz.

Grandeza points to new, more subtle directions for Brazilian pop – a deep, minimalist, almost insinuated use of the rich textures and rhythms that defined the songwriting history of Brazil – one which Sessa now joins as one of the most promising new voices.