Critic's evaluation
It was formed in Aracaju in 2020, but its proposal is to fuse the modern with the vintage. With a studio album and several singles under their belt, the Sergipe quintet Origami Aquém announces A Melhor Música Que Já Fizemos (E Outras Quatro), their first EP, which serves as a milestone in the band's transitional phase.
A boisterous burst from Sérgio Guilherme's bass welcomes the listener to Origami Aquém. Seconds later, a sunny and contagious melody is guided by a bittersweet timbre very similar to those of Branco Mello and Evandro Mesquita. While Guilherme draws the lyrical lines with contagious nonchalance, David Morais' drums set the rhythm with a mixture of rigidity and precision. The softness with which the guitars of Vítor Brito and Danillo Matos move through the melodic sphere stands out, communicating a blend of soft rock and indie rock in the track's sound recipe. With the typical sweet and sour sound of the accordion brought by Igor Elias's keyboard delivering regionalism, Capitu is also adorned by a guitar solo with a hard rock vein that is very reminiscent of Whitesnake's sound aesthetic. Discussing jealousy, hatred, the restlessness of not being able to decipher the enigma of the gaze and the feeling of betrayal, Capitu is a song whose plot manages to bring refinements of folklore to themes so old that they remain recent, which are simply insecurity, heartache and incomprehension of rejection.
In the metric of a classic blues, the song sounds as warm as the sun on a summer evening. Through the guitars, a lovely soft rock draws its silhouettes of slight sensuality, but here there are two factors that deserve attention in this context. The first is Guilherme's vocals, which come in the form of tuneful falsetto. The other is the lightly trotting bass. The full-bodied instrument creates a consistent base that gives resistance to a rock song with a fresh atmosphere that mixes airs from the 1990s and the dawn of the 2000s. With a melodic structure similar to Nando Reis' songs, but with big hints of Raul Seixas thanks to Guilherme's lyrical interpretation and timbre, Palavras Perdidas also has the acidic, guttural sweetness of the hammond shining through its harmony. With this atmosphere, the song brings a lyricism that simply exalts the power of words and communication not only in solving problems, but also in equalizing the emotional state of each individual. And in this respect, the most striking verse is "as coisas não são resolvidas por meio de oração", because, with a hint of irony, it calls the listener to action and, consequently, to leave the comfort of passivity behind.
Keeping the blues base, but now with a more palatable sweetness, the song escapes the energy exuded by Palavras Perdidas to revel in an almost morbid melancholy. Dramatic thanks to the tinkling of the piano amplifying the pain and suffering, the song is not content with the inevitable and, through the solo guitar, features a character who begs and burns for the desire not to end his life in such a way. Giving vent to the delicate subject of depression, Não Me Deixe Morrer shows how the external can overshadow what is actually going on in one's emotions. In the case of this song, the exhausting routine, the incessant urban noise of the two and the lack of free time for personal care act as a trigger for depressing and gloomy thoughts. Touching, Não Me Deixe Morrer makes the listener feel the despair every time the vocalist repeats the anguished line “meu amor, por favor, não me deixe morrer aqui".
The dry hits of the drums sound like liberation. The lead guitar then slides its silhouettes through sweet but provocative movements, while the base guitar does its job of adding acidity to this ecstasy of sweetness. From this hardcore with a beach essence that is very reminiscent of the essence of Cali, Pensamentos Que Me Levam A Você ends up going into a curiously romantic vein with the keyboard's floral notes playing a leading role amidst an embryonic soft rock. Rebellious, tired, but in an outburst tone, Pensamentos Que Me Levam A Você is a song that overflows with the need to overcome a past love in order to heal not only the pain in the heart, but also to reorganize the pages of the protagonist's book of life. It's no wonder that the anger at the coldness and lack of compassion of the person he once loved shares space with sudden affective memories that soften the heat of fury and give moments of calm to a mind already accumulated by a badly digested break-up.
From relentless and insatiable acidity. From the provocative sensuality and furious impulses, Origami Aquém invites the listener to calm down and immerse themselves in a comforting atmosphere with a softened blues beat and tinkling sonorities that even suggest a sense of romanticized torpor. With an aesthetic break that goes from velvet to rough in a transition from blues to alternative rock flirting with post-grunge, Bebê Conforto is the antithesis, or rather the chapter before Pensamentos Que Me Levam A Você. After all, while in the latter the character finds himself on the verge of heartache, in the former he finds himself lost in passion, in romance. Bebê Conforto is the presentation of an individual held hostage and lost in the hypnosis of love.
Although still young, the Origami Aquém quintet shows maturity, competence and musicality. And in A Melhor Música Que Já Fizemos (E Outras Quatro) there's an outpouring of textures, nuances and multiple melodic proposals that range from velvet to rough in a journey through the spheres of love with hints of folklore.
Fleeing well from the typical samba de coco from Sergipe, the quintet does something similar to Chico Science by spreading the electric guitar in a region dominated by cheerful, danceable rhythms. But no. There's nothing gloomy or melancholic about the quintet's EP. It does explore nostalgia, romance, the notion of the need to get rid of the comfort associated with passivity and also thinking about jealousy and the cannibalistic action of routine.
With this, Origami Aquém made, with the help of Pierre Lima in the mixing, A Melhor Música Que Já Fizemos (E Outras Quatro) shows its maturity in the midst of daring. Precision in the midst of melody. And so, from the material, the listener can taste different flavors that move between soft rock, indie rock, hard rock, blues, hardcore and alternative rock, making the sea breeze mingle with the heat of the asphalt.
It is true, however, that the deserved congratulations go to Lima specifically in his role as producer. Through her, the quintet was able to put all their essence and influence into a sound with traces of Raul Seixas, but also of Nando Reis and the golden Brazilian rock era. From his direction, Lima stands out for making each of the tracks have densities that talk to each other beyond the lyrical content.
Rounding off the technical scope is the cover art. Signed by Coletivo Cinestesia, it features the five members spread out in a field on the edge of a closed forest. The sepia tone and even the clothes worn by the musicians suggest something ancient, while the setting of the work exudes a folkloric air that fits well with the aesthetic basis of one of the songs on the material.
Released on 09/01/2023 via Caravela Records, A Melhor Música Que Já Fizemos (E Outras Quatro) is a fusion of romance, the hypnosis of love, anger, jealousy and action. An EP that explores both insecurity and the fragility of the heart through environments that exude provocation, sensuality and precision.
