Cru : Seu Jorge : Review : Rolling Stone

Seu Jorge is known to U.S. audiences for performing bossa-flecked Portuguese renditions of David Bowie songs in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. But the Brazilian singer, guitarist and actor breaks free of such gimmickry for his North American debut disc. Cru's originals are steadfastly traditional (relying on acoustic guitars and sparse percussion, as on the typically hypermelodic "Tive Razao") and boldly forward-looking (employing these same instruments to craft the hip-hop samba of "Mania de Peitao"). For Cru's sprinkling of cover versions, Jorge selects shrewdly, updating Serge Gainsbourg's peppy suicide roll call "Chatterton" and delivering Elvis Presley's sexy spiritual "Don't" straight -- and in English. Jorge's voice is dark brown sugar, coarsely ground; in Cru's affecting, political "Eu Sou Favela," he employs it to contrast the diminished hopes of his upbringing in the slums of Rio with the joyous promise of the samba, its musical gift to the world.