2024 Stock. Elemental Music, together with Universal Music, proudly presents the 50th Anniversary CD reissue of the long unavailable third album by the influential Caetano Veloso. Also known as Irene or Álbum Branco (“White Album”), this masterpiece is considered one of the greatest Brazilian albums ever, and also a landmark set from the Tropicália years. The vocal and acoustic guitar tracks for the album were recorded in a small recording studio in Salvador de Bahia, where Veloso was confined for defying the authoritarian Brazilian government of the time. He recorded the vocals, and Gilberto Gil the acoustic guitar, and the tracks were sent to arranger and producer Rogério Duprat, who added layers of electric guitars, horns, bass, drums and other instruments in a more professional studio in São Paulo. The album, like its predecessor (from 1968), is very eclectic, featuring songs ranging from bossa nova, psychedelic rock, and carnival music, to traditional Bahian music, fado, and tango, among other genres. The album contains songs in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The range of work here is tremendous – from the political “Empty Boat” to the fantastic “Lost in the Paradise”, to other classics that include “Irene”, “Os Argonautas”, “Carolina”, “Alfômega”, “Chuvas de Verão”, “Objeto Não Identifcado”, “Atrás Do Trio Elétrico”, and “Marinheiro Só”.
