Marina Lima - Abrigo (1995)

In this album, the pop/rock singer/songwriter Marina Lima is only an interpreter. Released one month after her 40th birthday, the album has moderated interpretations, freed from her sensual gimmicks of the past. Included is the first recording of Paulinho Moska's hit "Admito Que Perdi." The hit "Nem Luxo, Nem Lixo" (Rita Lee/Roberto de Carvalho), after a successful TV campaign as a jingle, returns in techno format. The smart use of a steel-string acoustic guitar brings good moments throughout the album, like in "Linhas Tortas," and "Beija-flor" is quite a beautiful song in her delicate rendition. But trying to approach serious composers like Tom Jobim ("Samba do Avião") or Irving Berlin ("Blue Skies"), Lima sounds pretentious and brings nothing new. "Mantra: Beije e Me Ame" is a shameless plagiarism of "This Masquerade," but "Carne e Osso," by the rock band Picassos Falsos, with its scatologic images, is adequate to her outsider universe -- but the most expressive melody is the acoustic guitar blues "Liberou Geral," where she shares a duet with the composer Giovanni Bizzotto.