A Foreign Sound
| A Foreign Sound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 April 2004 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 1:15:13 | |||
| Language | ||||
| Label | Nonesuch, Mercury, Universal | |||
| Producer | Caetano Veloso, Jaques Morelenbaum[1] | |||
| Caetano Veloso chronology | ||||
| ||||
A Foreign Sound is the thirtieth studio album by Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist Caetano Veloso, released on 6 April 2021 on the record label Nonesuch. The recording consists of Veloso's interpolations of songs from the Great American Songbook,[2] including compositions by a variety of writers, ranging from Tin Pan Alley standards by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter to works by David Byrne and Kurt Cobain, being Veloso's second English-Language album. The album title comes from a verse in Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)": "So don't fear if you hear / A foreign sound to your ear".[3]
Background
[edit]During the album's production, Veloso was navigating his separation from Paula Lavigne, whom he married in 1986, which he describes as a difficult and emotionally taxing period.[4] The recording took him nine months to complete—a process characterized by protracted studio sessions and persistent challenges, including faced difficulties with pitch stability and bouts of depression.[5]
The album predominantly features American songs, but only "Feelings" is a cover by a Brazilian musician, Morris Albert, and Veloso himself commented that the song is "a fake American song written by a Brazilian". Conversely, "Carioca" is a song about Brazil, but it was originally an insert song for the American film Flying Down to Rio, to which Veloso said it was "a fake Brazilian song written by Americans".[6] While many songs are Tin Pan Alley standards, the album features compositions from Kurt Cobain, Stevie Wonder as well as dissonant sounds from the late 1970s no wave band DNA.[7] In the album's liner notes, Veloso writes that "people all over the world would like to find a way of thanking American popular music for having made their lives and their music richer and more beautiful. Many try. So do I."[8]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| Correio Braziliense |  [10] |
| Folha de S.Paulo | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 8.8/10[12] |
| The Guardian | [13] |
A Foreign Sound was met with mostly mixed acclaim from various music critics. John Bush gave the album a score of four and a half stars out of five on AllMusic, noting that "Veloso transforms these standards by a clever combination of his subtle interpretive gifts, his precise, literate delivery, and his ability to frame each song with an arrangement that fits perfectly with either song."[9] Stephen M. Deusner, in his review for Pitchfork, gave the album an 8.8 out of 10, noting that "Veloso aims to reinterpret these songs, to make them sound new and foreign to American ears. And for the most part he succeeds."[12]
Pedro Alexandre Sanches, writing for Folha de S.Paulo, described A Foreign Sound as a work steeped in contradictions, highlighting how Veloso transforms "foreign" standards into "false Brazilian" creations in the spirit of tropicália. He noted that tracks like "Feelings" by Morris Albert serve as a "conceptual centerpiece", blending "kitsch with sophistication" to craft a "tacky aesthetic". Sanches remarked that Veloso's reinterpretations of songs such as Paul Anka's "Diana" and Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" juxtapose conventions with inventive subversions, resulting in a "chessboard, labyrinth, and Rubik's cube" of musical ideas.[11] Robin Denselow from The Guardian gave the album two stars out of five, noting that while some tracks "do justice to Veloso's famously cool and intimate vocals", others are "pleasant but dull" or even "downright dreadful". The reviewer praised the simplicity of his acoustic renditions, particularly "Summertime" and the Latin-edged "There Will Never Be Another You", performed with Gilberto Gil. However, they criticized the album's less successful experiments, including a "ghastly arrangement of Paul Anka's 'Diana' " and a "dirge-like treatment of Stevie Wonder's 'If It's Magic' ".[13]
Legacy
[edit]The first book in the critical-analytical music series 33+1⁄3 Brazil was Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning, written in 2017.[14]
Tracks
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23. | "I Only Have Eyes For You" | Harry Warren, Al Dubin | 1:19 |
| Total length: | 1:16:40 | ||
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] | 93 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[16] | 74 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] | 25 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[18] | 3 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[19] | 41 |
| US World Albums (Billboard)[20] | 2 |
Certifications
[edit]| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[21] | Gold | 50,000* |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
[edit]- ^ Ferreira, Mauro (2023-10-16). "Caetano Veloso ganha Prêmio UBC pelo conjunto da obra, uma das mais completas traduções do Brasil". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ "Caetano: "belo, soberano, mas inofensivo"". Deutsche Welle (in Portuguese). 2004-11-19. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Mirkin, Steven (2004-10-18). "Caetano Veloso". Variety. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Sanches, Pedro Alexandre (2022-08-05). "Caetano Veloso chega aos 80 transformado pelo século 21" [Caetano Veloso reaches 80 transformed by the 21st century]. ELLE Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ Blitzer, Jonathan (2022-02-07). "How Caetano Veloso Revolutionized Brazil's Sound and Spirit". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Culshaw, Peter (2004-07-10). "A tropical take on Kurt Cobain". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (2004-04-11). "MUSIC; Exile on 57th Street". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Klein, Joshua (2004-05-25). "Veloso and Lindsay: Echoing the Sounds of Brazil". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ a b Bush, John, A Foreign Sound - Caetano Veloso, AllMusic, retrieved 2025-01-10
- ^ Franco, Hélio (3 April 2004). "Sensibilidade e ternura". Correio Braziliense.
- ^ a b Alexandre, Pedro Sanches (2021-10-22). "Antena do cantor capta anticonvenções" [Singer's antenna captures anti-conventions]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 34.511 (103). ISSN 1414-5723. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ a b Deusner, Stephen M. "Caetano Veloso: A Foreign Sound". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ a b Denselow, Robin (2004-07-02). "Caetano Veloso, A Foreign Sound". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ "33 1/3 Brazil". Bloomsbury Publishing. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Caetano Veloso Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Caetano Veloso Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Caetano Veloso – A Foreign Sound" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
Bibliography
[edit]- Browning, Barbara (September 7, 2017). Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781501319259.
