MOMO. - Tum Tum Tum Vinyl LP

Tum Tum Tum is the eighth album from London-based Brazilian artist Marcelo Frota aka MOMO., featuring guest appearances from Brazilian bossa nova legend Marcos Valle and Smoke City's Nina Miranda as well as UK jazz trombonist Rosie Turton and his tight-knit band, all recorded in South London. This is a free-flowing, warm, expansive and fully assured album, and exudes a playfulness and a sense of someone who is truly in their element and at peace when writing and recording. Recorded in South London, the album captures a band deeply attuned to one another. Drummer Thomas Broda and percussionist Jim Le Mesurier play together in the same room, shaping a physical pulse that runs through the record. Long-standing collaborators Regis Damasceno on bass and Caetano Malta on guitar bring depth and precision, while UK jazz trombonist Rosie Turton adds expressive lift throughout. The arrangements remain open and responsive, with space, feel, and attention guiding each track forward rather than click tracks or studio polish. Lead track "Egum Eô" is a wonderfully Afro-Brazilian opening and sets the scene perfectly with MOMO.'s vocal sounding much like the album's title Tum Tum Tum, pushing the positivity sky-high in unison with a gorgeous horn hook. The broken groove slowly rolls in like a curling surf-perfect wave before the band all join the jam, leaving the listener joyfully entranced. Guest appearances from Brazilian MPB legend Marcos Valle and Smoke City's Nina Miranda speak to a body of work shaped through enduring artistic relationships. MOMO.'s connection with Valle goes back several years, to his time with former band Fino Coletivo and a live recording in Rio de Janeiro. With Nina Miranda, a London-based friendship and creative partnership that grew over years of performance together finds its recorded form in "Canto de Aldeia," a track that, in MOMO.'s words, "celebrates our friendship.". Miranda sings in English in an almost Jacqui McShee style, evoking real nostalgia against the band's steady rhythm and dreamy strings. Tum Tum Tum feels assured and alive, music shaped by travel, time and accumulated experience. It carries the confidence of an artist who understands that continuity is its own form of strength. Twenty years and eight albums in, MOMO. continues forward with clarity and intent.