Brasil

Wax Poetic’s Brasil is the final installment of a three-part series of records from the Nublu founder and bandleader Ilhan Ersahin’s Wax Poetic project. Where the second installment of the series saw Ersahin collaborating with musicians from Istanbul, Brasil brings him in body and spirit to Brazil. On the album he collaborates with Bebel Gilberto, Sabina Sciubba of Brazilian Girls, Otto, Karina Zeviani, Mamelo Soundsystem and Forro in the Dark among others, making a work not only highlighting the talent within the country’s borders but also reflecting its vibrancy and grace. Brasil begins with a beautifully cut and pasted sample and Rhodes tinkering that has become Ersahin’s signature. Moments later, Otto’s voice scampers over the track weightlessly, conveying sheer ease before the next track blindsides with its cracking beats and sharp Portuguese MCing from Mamelo Soundsystem. The album continues on this way, seamlessly running back and forth between pure beauty—with Sabina Sciubba of Brazilian Girls and Thievery Corporation collaborator Karina Zeviani offering two of their finest performances of any record—and electric energy.