Mylene, "Mylene"
Fast Horse

On her promising debut album, Rio de Janiero singer Mylene combines bossa nova, samba and urban Brazilian street music with styles from Spain and Portugal, then deftly adds electronica touches.  Her crisp synthesis is far more pleasing than the slick bossa nova-meets-electronica pastiche recently popularized by fellow Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto.

Mylene, 26, has clearly spent time listening to Marisa Monte, Astrud Gilberto and other vocal stars from her homeland.  But her biggest influence appears to be visionary Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso, in particular his collaboration with New York music mavericks Arto Lindsay and Peter Scher.

The 10-song, “Mylene” is not as edgy as Veloso’s best work, but is more immediately inviting.  The blend of traditional instruments, such as acoustic guitar, accordion and berimbau, with electronic rhythm loops and sequenced bass lines sounds organic, not contrived.

“Coraco Tonto (Dizzy Heart)” is a fetching chill-out track with dub-reggae underpinnings, while “48 Horas (48 Hours)” is built on a skittering 6/8 time signature.  The moody ballad “Longa Longa Noite (Long Long Night)” is one of several tunes that showcases Mylene’s songwriting skills.  She stumbles only on a rote version of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and on her own “Madrigal,” which bears a striking resemblance to Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust.”