Sessa :: Pequena Vertigem de Amor
Photo: Helena Wolfenson
Sessa, the São Paulo, Brazil-based project of Sergio Sayeg, has returned to the sonic surface with perhaps his greatest effort yet, “Pequena Vertigem de Amor.” Suppose you thought 2022’s “Estrela Acesa” was an instant classic. In that case, you’ll be delighted to hear that his highly anticipated follow-up is nothing short of a spiritual storm, leaving behind in its whispering wake a radical rainbow filled with cosmic colors even the iconic imagination of the human condition has trouble comprehending. A carefully crafted masterpiece that has faithfully fallen from the shattered skies of a world brimming with madness, hysteria, and cultural chaos, this album is a liberating light-filled with spiritual sound and mighty melody that breathes new life into this petrified planet. By the way, the world has always been in this feverish flux of insanity since the beginning, so don’t take anything too personally. Most of us are here to spread endless love, make memories, and keep each other above the cold ground, no matter the stakes. It’s obvious that without music and human expression, we’d be in total darkness. But with a giant, harmonious hug from the songwriter and his revolutionary reach on the collective culture, there may be hope for us after all. Translating to “Lil’ Love Vertigo,” Sessa takes his listeners on a vibrant voyage across poetic plains and exotic ecosystems laced with breathtaking views and stimulating sights. Where ancient waterfalls flow in reverse, “Pequena Vertigem de Amor” effortlessly shifts into this intimate identity that endlessly echoes the results of a thousand eyes and ears simultaneously stimulated by the atmospheric abyss, and its concern for contemplation.
“Going through stacks and stacks of soul 45s and classic soul records, at some point, I realized I wasn’t gonna be that tight, funky type of musician, so I decided to own the crookedness in my playing, a soft swing intrinsic to my upbringing in Brazil. My guitar playing went from the traditional Brazilian fingerpicking style to a more rhythmic, full-hand strumming playing.”
Photo: Helena Wolfenson
So much has changed in Sessa’s life, both artistically and personally, since his last album. With the birth of his son, becoming a father, expanding as a musician, and everything else that happens in this day and age, you have to live before you start documenting the endless essence of life through your craft, and Sessa has captured that melodic magic, and then some, in his music. “For the first time, I saw music move from the center to the side of my life. In an interesting way, music became more mixed with my life,” says Sessa, about his unique observation on the poetic process, and its constantly changing creative climate. Brimming with the fluorescent flutter of a million flying insects and the liberating language spoken by the local Undulated Tinamou, “Pequena Vertigem de Amor” is a brilliant meditation on life, love, intimacy, and the forever-changing elements of the heart and soul. Across the album’s 9 tracks, an almost translucent temptation on the senses begins to emerge from the depths of its compelling core, while simultaneously flooding the fundamentals of romance and reality with an esoteric energy similar to the lyrical legacies of Mário Rui Silva, Guilherme Coutinho, and George Semper, to name a few. Featuring tracks like “Nome de Deus,” “Planta Santa,” “Revolução Interior,” and “Roupa Dos Mortos,” Sessa embraces the world past his fingertips, while balancing the rhythms and tonal textures of a multi-instrumental reality steeped in traditional sound, and the harmonious hunger for something lucid and intimately intelligent.
