A Noite Vai Chegar

Chronique

This is the debut album of Lady Zu, often called the queen of Brazilian disco music. A Noite Vai Chegar clearly contains music that justifies Lady Zu's rather grandiose epithet. The album is full of crystal-clear pop songs with fine melodies, performed to perfection by an inspired singer. Just like many other Brazilian artists in the 1970s, Lady Zu blended disco, funk, soul, and more traditional Brazilian popular music styles, like samba. From an Anglo-American point of view, however, the music of Lady Zu is much more conventional than the music of related artists like, for example, Jorge Ben. Performing songs by Totó, Paulinho Camargo, and other composers, Lady Zu shows that she is a versatile singer with good vocal range, timing, and finesse. Practically all the tracks on this are well crafted enough to be potential hits, with "Novidades," "Amando Você," and "Com Sabor" being some of the best songs on the album. "Não Deu Em Nada" is another very catchy song, and it has a very characteristic guitar intro that David Byrne would later "borrow" on Talking Heads' famous 1983 hit "Burning Down the House." The title track, "A Noite Vai Chegar," was Lady Zu's breakthrough hit and her biggest commercial success. The slightly rock-oriented track "Meu Nome é Lady" stands out from the rest of the mostly disco and pop-styled songs. "Eu Queria Falar Com Você," at the end of the album, is a fine soul ballad. To sum it up, it is no exaggeration to say that Donna Summer, Chic, or indeed any American dance-pop star would have been very proud to have recorded an album of this caliber. Disco-pop simply doesn't get any better than this.

© Philip Jandovský /TiVo