CSS: La Liberación

Stream La Liberación on SPIN

It's only been five years since Brazilian new-ravers, CSS inducted us into their synth-pop sound with 2006's suggestively titled "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above". Five years later, they don't seem to have lost any of that playful energy that opened up ears and made critics swoon.

La Liberación continues their trend of cranking out a stream of rock-infused, Brazilian-dance pop, a welcome change from the onslaught of imported, Baile Funk tunes that always seems to make its way over to our shores from Brazil.

Obnoxious might be one way to describe the way lead singer, Luisa (a.k.a Lovefoxxx) unabashedly delivers her lyrics - but this serves as a critical component of what binds their music in a uniquely unapologetic manner.

The first single from the record, "Hits Me Like A Rock" is a bouncy, funky dance number that features guest vocals from Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, a seemingly unlikely yet unsurprising pairing. The album bounces around in what has become typical CSS fashion; from the synth-heavy, electro track "City Grrrl" - a likely front-runner for their next single - to the surf-pop inspired, piano-driven "Partners In Crime", CSS seems to have found an uneven, yet satisfying balance of songs that seems inspired by their collective moods. 

2008's Donkey showed a band trying its best to mature well into its own sound, with a noticeably polished production and a deeper electronic influence than their debut - La Liberación finds them settling well into that groove - the result being a finely crafted, playful record that makes you wonder how fun the recording sessions must have been.