Words by Justin Turford
More groovy madness from T&L favourite Alex Figueira but unlike the sleep deprived trials he went through making last year’s solo debut ‘Mentallogenic’, he has wisely shared the load this time. A relentless ball of Venezuelan energy, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ and record dealer has invited the five other members of the live incarnation of Conjunto Papa Upa to square the circle between what happens in his studio and what occurs live. As Alex explains - “The album took a long time to finish. Unlike with the previous one ‘Libre Para Amar’, I wanted to have the members of the live band play in it as much as possible. Why? Simple, because they all play their respective instruments much better than me.”
Despite his usual multiple genre-blurring attitude to his creations (there’s elements of two dozen or more genres and styles on this album!), one key aspect is the focus on dancing this time around.
“One thing I really tried to do with this record was to find a balance between songwriting and dancefloor appeal. What the hell does he mean? I hear you ask.
Well, one of the things I've always felt in the years of playing “Tropical alternative music" in Europe is that there is a certain part of the infrastructure in place (press, bookers, agents, etc, who tend to not be particularly keen on genres from beyond the Anglo-Saxon axis), that usually regard the type of music we do, as to be exclusively destined "for the late hours'', when people are usually drunk and all they want to do is shake their ass and hopefully get laid.
The stigma of ‘world music’ is of course a massive issue that I am not going to solve, but what I can certainly do against the contempt I've always felt from a certain sector, is to prove that the so-called "Tropical’ music can (and must!) make people dance and be textured and multi-layered at the same time without falling in the trap of becoming unnecessarily complex…
I tried to find a balance between repetition, trance induction and incisive grooving (essential elements of dance music rooted in the African tradition), and being evocative, adventurous and (defiant) with both the music and the lyrics.”
He’s definitely achieved his objectives on this ‘mature fruit’ (Fruta Madura) of an album. Funky, psychedelic, twisted and witty, Alex has handbrake-turned into another league. As the godfather of this sort of thing, Eblis Alvarez of Meridian Brothers fame opined - “Alex dove into this work with a brutal cohesion between lyrics and synths. Timbre poetry, sound poetry (you name it). And that, superimposed on his always impeccable percussive base, confirms the title of “avant-garde visionary of our beautiful Latin music”".
The album hits the ground running with the high velocity ‘El Segundo Es Mas Sabroso’, a sweat-inducing danceathon about never giving up, the second attempt always “is tastier”. A pounding 4/4 kick drum and prodding bass line hurtle along as vintage synths, scattered percussion and some lovely guitar work accompany Alex’s much improved vocals. His confidence in his voicing and lyrics have really come on, as he admits freely - “Singing has always been the hardest thing for me to do and I'm very happy with the results, I believe they are a massive improvement from all my previous efforts”. The track never lets up, the guitars, synths and percussion catfighting it out to the death.
The swirling carnivalesque funk of ‘El Algorithmo’ contains some of his best (and wittiest) lyrics on the album. Astute and dagger-sharp, he pricks the bubbles of those who publicly appear as one thing, the ‘algorithm’ of our modern world revealing the real truth behind the social media mask.
“The algorithm knows
Although no one notices
That you lied on Tinder
That you are no longer thirty
That you are not single
That you have four kids
And you talk bad about women
Because someone cheated on you.
The algorithm knows
About your false appearances
That in your fake resume
It says there is a lot of experience
And you are not a lawyer
Because you never graduated
The title you have
It was one you photoshopped.”
The grooving title song ‘Fruta Madura’ is part 70s Latin Soul, part psychedelic workout. Killer drums and percussion, singalong-a-backing vocals and a lyric dedicated to his love of fruit. ¡Por supuesto!
A song about controlling our desires, ‘Reos del Deseo’ is a psyche-cumbia burner with pleading vocals, spacey 80s’ keys and some ace rhythm guitar work. The cheesy-sounding Latin pop of the middle eight powers back into the main groove, loud and live percussion rattling with intent as a vintage synth has its Pan-Am moment.
A song that on the surface is a demand to not mix Coca Cola with his rum could also be read as a metaphor for the diluting of cultures with global Western attitudes, ‘No Le Pongas Coca Cola’ starts as a mid tempo conga-driven guaracha before exploding into a snare-heavy batucada- tambú-descarga thing that rockets away. This one zings!
With an evocative clavinet melody that could be a Latino version of a Michel Legrand-penned soundtrack title track, the melancholic lovesickness of ‘Hablame Claro’ channels various salsa-fied genres into an irresistible duo dance of passion and pain. Thankfully, Alex’s self-production ignores the contemporary mistake of compressing the crap out of the drums and percussion allowing the individual hits to pop and breathe, the sweltering agogo bells and guitar candomblé movement at the end sounding as though we were right there in the studio room.
“Your mom was right
Oh my daughter, don't marry a man
Who has no flavour!”
‘Tu Mama Tenia Razon’ is a cautionary tale of marrying a miserable man without groove in his blood. Mad as a sleeping bag full of honey badgers, the wild synths, accordions, country guitars and hard bongos stop and start behind Alex’s complex vocal arrangements, his party trick of pitch-shifting his voice into comical characters / inner dialogues popping up all over this feral boogie.
The hyper-guiro scraped ‘La Misma Vaina’ continues in a similar vein with unhinged synths and cracked breakdowns but the groove is straighter and harder, the lyrics a ruthless bitch at the dull ambitions of some lucky people.
‘Amigas Picadas’ is a brilliantly sensual swinger with a tasty electric guitar line and a mixture of jazzy piano and kid-friendly keyboards that manages to not get too weird until of course, it does. Just a little, just enough to know that Conjunto Papa Upa aren’t getting signed to Fania Records any time soon.
The band’s closing track on the album ‘Vinimos a Hablar’ is an exhilarating mix of sweetness and discordant interludes. Alex sings of wanting to chat quietly with his friends while being sonically assaulted by the band playing in the club, and this tune hilariously expresses these contrasting energies, the outgoing jam a fireball of percussion, angry keys and charanga-rapido.
‘Fruta Madura’ is a step up indeed for Alex Figueira & Co. His fruta has clearly matured with the band members combined instrumental mastery allowing him to elevate his songwriting and vocal chops into a new league. Probably not for the faint-hearted but if you want to hear ‘tropical’ music that burns, then this is for you. 9.5/10.
BUY HERE! https://musicwithsoul.bandcamp.com/album/fruta-madura