Paulinho Moska

The Last Day
(Paulinho Moska / Billy Brandão) Sony Music / Billy Brandão

My love
What would you do if this was your last day?
If the world was about to be over
Tell me, what would you do?

Would you keep up with your agenda?
For lunch, appointment, apathy?

Or wait for your friends
in an empty living room?

Would you run to a mall
or to the gym?
To forget that there's no time
to waisted time?

Would your walk naked in the rain?
Run to the middle of the street?
Get in the ocean with clothes on?
Have sex without a condom?

Would you open the door to a Psychiatric ward?
Lock the police department one?
Blow up my car?

I am addicted to listening to MPB FM while I work. I like paying attention to the lyrics of songs they play, and learn about the people that are creating the new MPB.
Lately, I noticed this guy, who I was not familiar with, singing songs with lyrics that reflect life out there, just the way it is. Came to find out that his name is Paulinho Moska.

Paulinho was born in 1967 in Rio. He started his music career in 1993 with an album entitled 'Vontade'. His career has been diverse involving theater, vocal experiments, and philosophy. This melange reflects in his most recent album 'Tudo Novo de Novo' (Everything New Again').

Quoting Keef Schoof from MusicaBrasileira.org "On Tudo Novo de Novo, Paulinho plays with Marcos Suzano, one of Brazil's most melodic percussionists. He has the rare talent to choose the right percussion instrument to accomplish a natural interaction with the other instruments, whether those are acoustic or electric. Sacha Amback is without any doubt among the most tasteful keyboardists. Besides being a wonderful pianist, he uses electronics in such a way that it never disturbs, but on the contrary adds to the sentiment of a song. His arrangements are always a delight. In the quartet, Dunga has the opportunity to use his rich experience as a bassist. He's the important "glue" between the different segments, laying bridges and supporting melody lines in the most perfect way. And of course, Paulinho Moska is the fourth member of the quartet, as singer/guitarist.

Most of the songs on the album are written by him. That's also where the cd got its title from "Everything new again." The sources of inspiration for the compositions were the pictures that feature the cd's booklet. A new way to compose music for Moska. He took those photos with his brand new digital camera, focusing on his own reflection in various chromed bathroom objects. Paulinho took some 2,500 of those (soon to be the subject of a book...). These self-portraits are linked to the autobiographic lyrics of the songs. There are quite a few fabulous songs on the cd. The three closing songs are true gems. "Impacto" is an example of the perfect balance between the instruments. The acoustic guitar dominates while simple sound effects set the emotion. The cries from a cuíca accentuate that emotion in a melancholic way. Mart'nália is guest vocalist on "Acordando," a relaxed samba. Samba might well be featured on Moska's next album, since it caught his attention as a composer. The album's closing song is a duet with Jorge Drexler. The composer/singer/guitarist from Uruguay (Montevideo, 1964) makes a wonderful appearance on his own written "Dos Colores: Blanco y Negro." Another very pleasant track is "Essa é a Última Solidão de Sua Vida," co-written with Pedro Luís, Mart'nália and Thalma de Freitas. Written by friends, and that's how it sounds too; the song reflects the personalities of its composers. "O Bilhete no Fim" has a funky upbeat tempo, soft percussion and nice organ. The music of Jorge Drexler is featured again with a portuguese version of "La Edad del Cielo," a beautiful ballad with a jazzy guitar, played by producer of the album Nilo Romero".