Sonzeira: Brasil Bam Bam

 As the World Cup draws near and the irresistible rhythms of Brazil take centre stage, Gilles announced his extraordinary new record – an incredible journey through the different flavours of authentic Brazilian music culture, from its majestic heritage to its super-dynamic present. ‘Sonzeira: ‘Brasil Bam Bam Bam, is set to be released on May 19th via Talkin’ Loud / Virgin EMI and will be the first release on Talkin’ Loud in over a decade. ‘Southern Freeez’ will be released as a limited edition 7” for Record Store Day on April 19th.

‘Brazil’s music culture is massive,’ says Gilles. ‘There’s the North – Bahia, Recife, the afro-brazilian sound. There’s batucada, the heavy sambas. Then bossa nova – Tom Jobim and all that history. There’s baile funk. There’s Tropicalia and the more soulful, funky scene championed by groups like Banda Black Rio, Trio Mocoto and icons like Gilberto Gil. Such a huge amount of stuff to fit in. I wanted to try and cover it all – to make a kind of Buena Vista meets club culture, but to keep it sonically very modern.’

‘Making this record, I asked myself about my own history with Brazilian music,’ Gilles says, ‘What is a French boy, living in South London, doing putting up aerials at the age of 15 so he can play batucadas on pirate radio? Why was I doing that? Where did that come from?’. By the time Seu Jorge reprises the carnival mayhem of ‘Bam Bam Bam’ on the album’s closing track, you’ll be wanting to put up an aerial of your own.

Release date 19th May.

Pre-order from Amazon HERE check out www.brasilbambambam.com for more updates.