Cê

Infobox Album
Name = cê
Type = studio
Artist = Caetano Veloso


Released = 1 September 2006
Recorded =
Genre = Música Popular Brasileira
Length =
Label = Mercury, Nonesuch
Producer = Pedro Sá and Moreno Veloso
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0zfuxq9rldde link]
*Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau|dud
Last album = Onqotô
2005
This album = cê
2006
Next album = Cê ao vivo
2007

"cê" is an album by Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Caetano Veloso. Released on 1 September 2006 on Mercury Records, the album took its title from the colloquial Portuguese word meaning "you". It was written with Veloso's band in mind, which was chosen in part by percussionist Pedro Sá. "Cê" received mixed critical commentary; several critics specifically noted the album's lyrical focus on human sexuality.

Title and cover

The word "cê" is a shortened version of the Portuguese personal pronoun "você", meaning "you". Veloso says that "cê" is a more "colloquial" version of "você", used often in everyday speech. When he writes lyrics, Veloso typically writes the word "você", but sings "cê" when performing.cite web |url=http://www.nonesuch.com/caetano/ |title=cê EPK |accessdate=2008-05-17 |author=Veloso, Caetano, et al. |publisher=Nonesuch Records ] The inspiration for the album's title came when he wrote "cê" instead of "você" and thought of it as an appropriate title.

Veloso designed the album's cover himself, as he had done before for three other albums. He went through a long design process in which the cover's colors, fonts, and text positioning were changed frequently. Veloso chose the color purple for the cover's background because it is mentioned multiple times in the album itself.

Band and recording

Veloso wrote most of the album's material with its band in mind and played the music as a complete unit with the band. Guitarist and percussionist Pedro Sá had already been confirmed as a participant on the album, and he was invited to pick other musicians for it. "Cê"'s primary recording was completed in two weeks as a result of the extensive rehearsals conducted in the few months prior, and the extended recording process, including the production of rhythm tracks, extended for another six weeks.

When asked about the "tightness" of the album's sound by "The Boston Globe"'s Siddhartha Mitter, Veloso responded that he had intended for the songs to be realized in this manner and that the young musicians he had hired to work on the album allowed him to do this. [cite news |first=Siddhartha |last=Mitter |title=At 65, he increases range |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/11/02/at_65_he_increases_range/ |work=The Boston Globe |date=2007-11-02 |accessdate=2008-05-17 ]

Lyrics and themes

"Cê"'s lyrical subject matter received attention from nearly every critic reviewing it, described as "carnal" by "New York Times" reviewer Nate Chinen. [cite news |first=Nate |last=Chinen |title=Singing About Dark Emotions, but Keeping Things Upbeat |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/arts/music/21velo.html |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=2007-11-21 |accessdate=2008-05-17 ] Brazilian music expert Dário Borim Jr. wrote, "Veloso's disc as a whole displays a plethora of poetic representations and pervasive preoccupation with sex and gloom." [Borim (2007), p. 11] In particular, Borim noted the album's theme of unconventional sexual roles and Veloso's uncertainty of his sexual orientation. [Borim (2007), p. 12]

Response

"Cê" received a rating of 75 percent on the online review aggregator Metacritic, which corresponds with "generally favorable reviews." [cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/velosocaetano/ce |title=Ce by Caetano Veloso |accessdate=2008-05-17 |author=Staff |publisher=Metacritic ] Writing for "The New Yorker", music journalist Sasha Frere-Jones described the album as closest to indie rock, compared to Veloso's previous records—"'Cê' resists the anodyne charms of Brazilian pop, favoring loud, blocky rhythms more common to American garage bands."cite web |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/01/29/070129crmu_music_frerejones |title=Cool Heat |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |authorlink=Sasha Frere-Jones |date=2007-01-29 |work=The New Yorker ] Frere-Jones went on to describe the fluidity of the album, falling very loosely into the rock music genre classification. Ben Ratliff, of "The New York Times", noted that "cê" fell on the "petty end of the emotional spectrum"cite news |first=Ben |last=Ratliff |title=Critics' Choice: New CDs |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E1DC1F30F931A15752C0A9619C8B63 |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=2007-01-22 |accessdate=2008-05-28 ] and that its compositions were raw and unpolished.

Allmusic's Philip Jandovský rated the album with three out of five stars. He wrote that "cê", while not poor, lacked the creative spark that is Veloso's trademark. [cite web |url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0zfuxq9rldde |title=Cê > Review |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Jandovský |first=Philip |publisher=Allmusic ] Conversely, Mallory O'Donnell of "Stylus Magazine", who gave the album an A- rating, saw it as one of Veloso's better recent works, compared to 2004's "A Foreign Sound", in particular. [cite web |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/caetano-veloso/c.htm |title=Caetano Veloso - Cê |accessdate=2008-05-28 |last=O'Donnell |first=Mallory |date=2006-10-27 |work=Stylus Magazine ] "Village Voice" critic Mike Powell also compared "cê" to "A Foreign Sound" and noted that "cê"'s relative simplicity was its "triumph". [cite news |first=Mike |last=Powel |title=Brazilian Crooner Ain't Suitable for Framing Just Yet |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0708,powell,75873,22.html |work=The Village Voice |date=2007-02-13 |accessdate=2008-05-28 ]

Personnel

*Caetano Veloso – guitar, vocals
*Pedro Sá – guitar
*Ricardo Dias Gomes – keyboards, bass guitar
*Marcello Callado – drums

Footnotes

References

*cite web |url=http://www.plcs.umassd.edu/pdfs/2007-04-12-DarioOnCaetano.pdf |title=Unpredictable Coherence: Caetano Veloso Beyond "Ethnic" and Easy-Listening Tunes |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Borim Jr. |first=Dário |date=2007-04-12 |publisher=Portuguese Literary & Cultural Studies |format=PDF