Bruno Capinan

Far from the eternally festive Afro-Brazilian rhythms of his native Bahia, singer Bruno Capinan's sonic constructs instead play out like an all-to-familiar theme of personal disaffection on his dramatic and delicate debut, Gozo. Built on a sensation more in-tune with the feelings of disconnectedness brought on by his more recent Toronto environs, songs like the searching "Captura," with its sombre, yet bellowing, horns swells, and the equally desperate "Gozo" drip both lyrically and musical with the emotions of a man at odds with his surroundings. While this premise generally holds throughout, increasing layers of percussion and digital elements, as in the heartbeat rhythm of the suffocated "Oxigênio" or the lazy lounge rock of the Hank Williams remake "Your Cheating Heart," help diversify Capinan's fragile artistry. By the time the cello creeps in, the captivating effects of this plaintive, yet oddly abrasive, journey become both unavoidable and undeniably alluring.