After teasing a new album for some time, O Grilo has finally released their new songs! O Grilo is a Brazilian indie-rock band that mixes classic styles from Brazil, like samba and axé, with more well-known pop and rock elements, making their sound quite original and interesting in a way that their songs are never boring, a fact that gave me high hopes for their upcoming work. If you’re interested in non-English music or you’re into the indie-rock scene, you’ll definitely enjoy their sound, but make sure to get the translation going if you don’t understand Portuguese, because it is the cherry on top!
I’ve personally got a strong set of opinions about the songs, but it’s important to clarify who the band is before: if you think the band’s name is familiar but that it doesn’t ring a bell, let me freshen up your memory!
WHO IS “O GRILO”?
O Grilo was formed in 2016 originally by five member, Lucas Teixeira, Gabriel Cavallari, Gabriel Xavier, Pedro Martins and André Maya. This first lineup of artists created and released the group’s first EP (Extended Play) Herói do Futuro in 2017, which included the song that would become a hit on Tiktok in 2021, “Serenata Existencialista”.
Later on in 2018 they were officially signed with the independent record label Rockambole, and in 2019 the band had changed their members: Gabriel Xavier and André Maya left and Felipe Martins joined, making up the group’s current lineup. With the changes made, the band was ready to produce a new album!
In 2021, their first album was out into the world and it received positive reviews; Você Não Sabe De Nada was a hit and it opened up a lot of opportunities for them, like collabing with another band called Daparte, producing a jingle for the company Caju Benefícios and, most impressively, managing to get a collaboration with Mc Binn, one of the most famous funk singer in the country. After all of those achievements, people were anxiously waiting to see where they would go next, and that’s when TUDO ACONTECE AGORA PT.1 came in.
NOW, FOR THE REVIEW
O Grilo’s latest work is amazing. The album sounds fresh and upbeat and, while it does reminisce the band’s older works, it also brings new elements that feel modern and appropriate. Most songs are composed of happy, energetic and often catchy instrumentals that may be unassuming, that is until you listen to the lyrics, which bring to the table contemporary dilemmas, stories, feelings and problems all at once, and let me tell you, it works beautifully!
The songs all fit together into the same album and sound coherent to each other, but each has their own spark and highlight that deserves to be honored. Therefore, here comes the song by song review:
- “Me Deixe Só” (freely translated into English: Leave Me On My Own)
The song can only be described as a groovy and funky pop hit! It’s got quite an upbringing rhythm that contrasts with the song’s lyrics, which brings themes of wanting to be lonely and desiring company as well, the human duality of emotions on the spot. It’s such a good start to the album and it sets up what’s coming after perfectly.
- “O Sol Raiou” (The Sun Has Risen)
This song is also made up of happier notes and upbeat rhythms that contrast with the subject, while the chorus build-up establishes a different feeling, a stronger and more certain one, giving the song a hint of unexpected freshness that works well with what’s already going on! It compares the presence of a girl, a loved one, to the sun and brightness in life, the positive feelings the singer has been feeling, only to then bring up the fear of losing them, wondering if time’ll catch up with them or if the relationship with the “sunny person” simply is not enough to stand on its own. The feeling of needing someone to feel some kind of emotion is something that reflects in today’s society and is relatable to some, but it still manages to cater to most, even those who have never had such issues, with the use of the lyricism and the rhythmic choices!
- “Manual Prático Do Tédio” (The Practical Handbook To Boredom)
The song starts off with an energetic punch while talking about different ways to change the singer’s monotonous everyday life: counting buildings and cars, looking up plane tickets that he doesn’t even plan on buying, looking at books that he won’t read etc. The song then goes on to changing rhythms from pop to rock to reggae-like before repeating over and over about how solutions are only a matter of time and are a sort of guidebook of things he won’t do, as if reaffirming that his boredom and monotony are “the fruits of the tree he grows himself”, as he chooses to not do certain things for a lack of motivation and prefers imagining “better”, and less productive, things that he could be doing. Despite having some “nonsensical” lyrics, the song goes deep into how people can be nowadays.
- “Passo A Passo” (Step by Step)
The starting notes take back to their previous album’s song “Meu Amor”, with chiller notes and vocals. But despite its laid back intro, the song soon grows into a deeper sound and instruments that accompany the vocal on lyrics that seem to refer to an admiration of someone and how you can get tangled up and unsure about your relationship, admiration and feelings for them. The singer, though, seems to be fine with the possibility of it not working out and isn’t worried about waiting around to see what life has to offer him. It shows a different reaction to the thought of a failing relationship than the earlier song “O Sol Raiou” and teaches about a calmer approach that advocates for the chance to leave choices up for life to figure out, a philosophy that I find fit for this new album and era that the band has presented.
- “Ainda É Verão” (It’s Still Summer):
On my first listen, this song didn’t stand out to me; but by the second one, I was obsessed!! The song takes on summer as a positive element and the advent of opportunities and contrasts it with cold episodes that may happen, though rarely, in said season. It talks about hope, about change and the way that the song builds up at the end is stunning! This piece is beautiful both in sounds and meanings and if I had to recommend only one song from this album, this would be it: it’s pretty, it’s hopeful and it’s my favorite one.
- “Já Passou” (It’s Over)
The song’s main topic seems to be time and choices, and the fear of them. The instrumentals are “smoother”, in a way, since it accompanies the vocals without overpowering them– not that the tunes are underwhelming! However, they let Pedro’s singing abilities shine through in a manner that showcases how sometimes having simple features makes for a wonderful song. The lyrics show how, because of the lack of communication and the choices of the main character, relationships have started and ended and opportunities have passed; it’s noticeable that the idea of things ending before you noticing that they even are there, and that’s when the song’s name comes into play: the opportunities, the time, it is all over before you can even appreciate it. And, just like the previous songs, the down and sad lyrics are interposed with an indie-rock beat that somehow does not feel out of place: that’s O Grilo’s magic, they can talk about anything over a fun rhythm!
- “TUDO//” (EVERYTHING//)
Despite being just an instrumental piece, it still sounds great and funky, and doesn’t feel out of place. It is a nice break between all the philosophical and heavier-themed songs.
- “Horizonte” (Horizon)
The topic of this one is the human journey and the lyrics start off with “here we go again”, before telling us the singer’s lesson: for you to find yourself, you need to go on a journey and make errors. The song’s main message is that we’re all human and that it’s fine to be wrong or to take a long time in your self-discovery process, because hope and prospects have accompanied you all along! Just like the horizon has always been there, it’s just sometimes hard to see the pretty views and appreciate them if it’s raining or cloudy, the things to appreciate have always been there. The hope and faith that they are sung make sense with the instruments, that manage to sound upbeat but still calmer, hopeful.
- “Já Não Me Faz Bem” (It’s No Longer Good For Me)
This piece definitely has a more “pop sound” to it and it’s great! The guitar solos sound awesome, and the calmer “break section” between the choruses fits in perfectly. The song talks about the connection that music and art have with life and love– it’s tiring to write music that has no connection to you or what’s happening emotionally in your mind, or writing love songs for someone that doesn’t exist or that has left your life. Out of all songs, this is the one that I think sounds the most “international”, in a sense; I could see it being from an American band, for example, so if you’re not used to the way Brazilian music sounds, this is the song that I think you’ll enjoy the most!
- “Seja Quem Você Quiser” (Be Who You Want To Be)
And last, but not least, comes “Seja Quem Você Quiser” to close off the album! It talks about love and freely expressing yourself, about being willing to change and accepting those changes. Some of my favorite lyrics from this album are from this song: “Meu amor, seja lá quem você for/ Seja quem você quiser/ Que hoje eu sou o seu amor” that roughly translates to “My love, whoever you are/ Be who you want to be / Because today I’m your love”. It shows that the singer just wants to love someone independently of who they are and who they chose to be. The guitar and drum accompany the singing in a bright and energetic way, and when the song quiets down only to be brought back up with a crowd singing in the back you truly feel like in the end of a coming of age movie, which feels like an appropriate way to end the album: energetic, fun and positively!
To sum it all up, I absolutely loved what I listened to! The songs are great, the lyrics don’t disappoint and the instrumentals are far from boring. The album name TUDO ACONTECE AGORA PT.1 makes me very hopeful that a second part might come soon, because I’m quite excited to see where the band is going with their sound from now on! This era of O Grilo is just what the world needed and I hope they keep up this awesome sound that they’ve created. If you’ve never heard the band, this is your call to do it: trust me, you’re missing out on absolute art!
—–
The article below was edited by Fernanda de Andrade Silva.
Liked this type of content? Check out Her Campus Cásper Líbero for more!