In spite of its title and Brazilian evocation, "Nascimento (Birth)" isn't a tone poem for legendary singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, but there's no denying that his distinctive falsetto and child-like melodicism is felt in Aloe Blacc's voice. The song's dreamy soundscape of enchanting horns, gentle guitar and pneumatic synth-strings recall the genre-defying magic Milton conjured in the '70s.
As a singer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Blacc is a similarly inventive experimenter, defying easy categorization on "Nascimento," which begins as an aria and concludes as broken-beat hip-hop. Thematically, Blacc uses the song's literal meaning — which in Portuguese translates to "birth" — as a launching pad for pondering the joyous anxiety of exploring a physical relationship.
"Nascimento" superbly evokes the supercharged, emotionally complex moment in which blissful optimism fades into contemplative doubt. Whereas many contemporary R&B ballads ignite with surefire lust, Blacc's epigrammatic verses glimmer with pensive hope. Not so coincidentally, it's one of the many gifts that made Milton Nascimento an enduring star.
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