Tim Bernardes – Mil Coisas Invisiveis

Psychic Hotline

Tim Bernardes, one third of Brazilian indie-tropicalia band O Terno, chose the start of 2020 to regroup and focus once again on a solo album that took him from the touring treadmill and allowed him to concentrate once again on crafting something that was entirely his own.

The sixteen tracks that make up Mil Coisas Invisiveis come straight from the heart and highlight a voice that is as sweet as a summer breeze on a Copa Cabana beach with the slow, soporific rhythm of opener “Nascer, Viver, Morrer” enticing the listener into his sound world of warm, welcoming comfort.

The simplicity of the backings provided here allow plenty of opportunity for the voice to be the focal point and it is a swoony, yet approachable thing which feels too intimate somehow for your typical tropicalia groove, preferring to stay close and charm at close quarters.

Although I have barely any Portuguese, as if often the way with true poets, the meaning somehow exudes and the sentiments of love and loss and daily struggle make their way through. Be it piano or acoustic guitar, the accompaniment always frames perfectly, soothing and shimmering around the voice.

It all moves at an easy pace; but as the album progresses, strolling along the sunlit street with a secret smile, I was reminded here and there of Jeff Buckley, but somehow with Tim’s character, his conversational delivery and the greater fluidity of the Portuguese language, it inhabits a warmer, mellower clime and seems to drift out of him like smoke. Sometimes only handclaps are needed as accompaniment and yet it still sounds full and finished.

There are folky elements to some tracks and others have a countrified edge; stylistically there is little off limits, but it is all about framing that voice with minimal instrumentation. It can be heavy and slow or deft and light, but always simple and the fun is in following the voice, particularly on the stream of consciousness “Ultima Vez”, where it skips and shimmies with every note a hand-plucked gem. Songs can leap from gentle hip shake to thought-provoking in the blink of an eye, and he can move from acoustic guitar to piano with a similar ease. It all feels so effortless yet consistently engaging.

Some of the understated piano ballads would draw a tear from the eye of Neil Sedaka or Barry Manilow, while other tracks only require a woodblock rhythm to cause the tapping of feet. A few strident string strikes surprise in opportune places, while the ’70s radio vibe of “Falta” feels as though it should be blasting from every Beetle in São Paulo.

Mil Coisas Invisiveis is that kind of album that captures different vibes and scatters them on the flower-strewn streets, just waiting to be gathered up, clutched to the breast and taken home. In this post-Xmas hinterland, these sunny vignettes are a treat for the soul.

-Mr Olivetti-