Posted on 08/05/2008
Last Time On Earth is the debut album from Télépathique, a Brazilian duo comprised of producer Erico Theobaldo and vocalist Mylene Pires. The duo’s style is basically a variation on the party-friendly electro sound that has received a lot of magazine coverage in recent years; audible suggestions that the group is of Brazilian origin are very minimal and infrequent, usually resigned to occasional snatches of Portuguese. Underlying beats tend to be skeletal and drum-machine based, touched up now and then with jungle breaks. Rock guitars and synth stabs are layered and processed alongside Pires’ mostly deadpan vocal style. The overall effect is unfortunately a very familiar one, and there is very little to indicate that Télépathique are anything but an of-the-moment electroclash-derived group, well-produced but fairly ordinary.

On the plus side, the album is well-made, presented as a continuous mix so that it works well in terms of sequencing. There is little doubt that fans of this style would find it to be consistent with their expectations, the issue is that it is too consistent, both according to itself and to the party music it aspires to be. The album’s final track, “I’m Not the Man,” develops a slightly unsettling synth atmosphere and a melodic Portuguese lyric more in keeping with traditional expectations of Brazilian music, but this is a very small dessert at the end of an already long and otherwise bland meal.

Recent Brazilian artists like Curumin and Kassin, as well as the internationally-celebrated baile funk style, demonstrate that Brazil is in a good position to create new music that still bears a unique cultural imprint, music that draws upon tradition while simultaneously facing forward. Télépathique fail to sufficiently draw upon their unique position; despite a strong emphasis on their Brazilian heritage within their bio, very little of this heritage finds its way to the party.

- Justin Deremo