Lenine is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, the son of communist parents, hence his first name. In his own way, he was a revolutionary, reshuffling the deck and rewriting the rules of Brazilian popular music in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He renewed it by injecting elements of jazz and rock while infusing it with traditions from his region of the Northeast.
Eita marks Lenine’s big comeback, or if you prefer, his grand return. Since Na Pressão (1999) and Falange Canibal (2002), Lenine has kept a low profile. His subsequent albums seemed to lack inspiration, without being bad. Eita is his first studio album in ten years. The native of Recife, the metropolis of Brazil’s Northeast region, returns in fabulous form, synthesizing Brazilian genres more than ever in a totally original fusion. He collaborates with young artists, such as the excellent Gabriel Ventura, as well as icons, such as the great singer Maria Bethânia. “Eita” is a popular expression meaning enchantment or celebration. Lenine offers us an album that celebrates life, but in all its complexity. The more you listen, the more instruments are added: vibraphone, trumpets, violin, accordions, and multiple percussion instruments and flutes from the northeast. These are paired with synths and the maestro’s heavily reverberated guitars.
Eita is a great album, perhaps Lenine’s most personal. You have to get past “Confia Em Mim,” the more conventional first track, to appreciate the richness of this short album. Eleven songs, 30 minutes of absolute introspective bliss.
