Critic's evaluation
Following on from A Dream, her first EP, and announcing the continuation of full-length releases, an activity parked in 2019 with Mais Que Os Olhos Podem Ver, her first album, Jade Baraldo releases new material. Entitled Infame, the new extended play arrives with the purpose of reinforcing women's struggle for equal rights.
The dawn is icy and synthetic from the keyboards of Maurício Oliveira and Thiago Gomes. Even so, it is these same sounds that indicate a possible melodic inclination towards pop, something that is confirmed, but with a baroque air. It's interesting to note that, while Jade Baraldo presents herself with a low timbre and a whispered interpretation, she also gives deliberate notions of a provocative sensuality whose intention is to confront her own weariness at the falsehood and futility of a soulless relationship. It's no wonder that Fim Da Festa shows a character ready to collapse as a way of venting her uncontrolled impulsiveness. And to give it a real party atmosphere, not only does Damien Seth's programming help to create a lounge music aesthetic, but the bass also helps to achieve a melodic firmness that contrasts with the relaxed and petty setting.
Although the guitars of Oliveira and Fabrício Matos start the intro with cheerful riffs that initially suggest a fusion between reggae and soft rock, what matures melodically is a swinging rhythm with the use of sub-bass and striking bass grooves giving the rhythm a pinch of pressure. From then on, yes, the soft rock does appear, but more timidly than initially supposed, behind an initial synth-pop of a provocative and sensual nature. Adorned by a well-constructed chorus with a bubblegum structure, Hello is a fun and danceable song, but it has a strong storyline that lays bare abusive relationships and excessive jealousy as factors that generate insecurity and, therefore, self-deprecation, fragility and fear. A great example of Infame.
The chorus is waltzing, but it carries with it a curious funereal energy that leads to a dramatic but sneaky atmosphere, with a lyricism carried like a whisper, a secret. Between symptoms of imposition and selfishness, the character finds herself hostage, as in Hello, to an abusive and one-sided relationship, but manipulated when it comes to the true meaning of love. As another sensualized song, Me Maltrata is imbued with a striking R&B structure that, thanks to Thiago Silva's driving drums and the groove of the bass, infects the listener and makes them forget, for a few moments, the criticism of the structural machismo that creates notions of false dependence in women.
The sound of the piano is dramatic, gloomy and sad. Maturing as an example of electronic music through electro house music, Sabotar brings another strong storyline that allows the listener to follow a character in her process of revenge against the one who made her suffer. It's like a role reversal in which the so-called weaker sex takes charge of the situation and demands retribution for the mistreatment they've suffered. Despite its dancey rhythm and something that sounds almost like a sample of the lyric "eu só quero que você se top, top, top, uh", taken from the single Top Top by Os Mutantes, Sabotar brings home the truth that a woman who suffers abuse from her partner is not an isolated case and that she finds support in other victims to break free from such an authoritarian reality.
An electronic sound with a slightly sour shrillness gradually takes over EcologyK's programming. In the meantime, Jade appears with a whispered interpretation that suggests a drowsy rage with the potential to implode. Melodically evolving towards a reggaeton base, but with the superficiality of a soft pancadão, Xóra is the first track on the EP in which the singer transparently exhorts female power and puts the woman definitively in control of the situation, her choices and her desires. Unlike Hello, the character here is in perfect emotional cohesion, which makes her able to see her virtues and not allow herself to be diminished by someone else whose low self-esteem makes them need to show superiority to mask their own fragility.
It is consistent with the way it is sold. Infame is not just a piece of material with a catchy slogan in the futile aim of attracting listeners from just one trip. It is more. It represents repressed women, undervalued women and women who fall short of their freedom. It is a product that gives voice to the muteness that results from repression, fear and submission.
It may seem that the EP lacks these qualities, but it's true. After all, its rhythms and melodies are inviting, attractive and fun. They encourage dancing, smiling and sensuality. But it is these elements that, together with the lyrical lines, create an antithesis between the influence of third parties on the essence of the individual, making them think they are weak and dependent, and the true emotional conjuncture that actually defines the person.
It's not hard to see from this that Jade Baraldo's Infame is a fierce criticism of structural machismo and its consequent tributaries that contaminate modern society. Authoritarianism, abuse of various kinds, selfishness, personalism and a sense of enslavement shape men's behaviour in such an institutionalized way that, for many, it's normal because it's so common.
In order to create an interesting, purposeful and provocative counterpoint between lyrical and melodic storylines, Jade enlisted Johnny Maia for the mixing work. With the professional's help, Infame was able to traverse fields such as pancadão, pop, lounge music, electro house music, R&B, reggaeton, synth-pop and soft rock.
Released on 12/01/2023 via Warner Music Brasil, Infame is an ode against structural machismo. It's representativeness. It is the voice of every woman who is repressed, oppressed and diminished to the point of seeing herself as inferior to men. Motivational, the EP is aimed at valuing women and recovering both the self-esteem and self-confidence of those relegated to the prison of male authoritarianism.
