Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
As both a solo artist and, previously, with the band Mano Negra, Manu Chao was a crucial figure in the popularization of worldbeat, a catchall genre that blends various global sounds with Western pop-rock sensibilities. The one-time Parisian busker made multi-lingual music with easy-going Latin rhythms, earnest positivity, and plenty of crossover appeal. Now, at age 63, Chao returns to prove he’s still motivated, still inventive, still a man of the people.
Viva Tu—remarkably, Chao’s first album in 17 years—is said to be inspired by people he’s come across on his many travels. It’s a concept that doubles down on the cultural exchange that flows through Chao’s music; at different times, he sings in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English. And while there’s nothing as intensely political as “Bloody Border,†a startling song released in 2019 about the Arizona migrant camps, Viva Tu is a real attempt to spotlight the remarkable within the everyday.
Take “São Paulo Motoboy,†a tribute to delivery drivers operating in the densely populated Brazilian city. Chao himself once worked as a courier in Paris, and his fascination with these workers moved him to release a 20-minute documentary on the subject. (“São Paulo is a breathing beast,†he says in press notes. “And the couriers are the blood running through its veins, keeping it alive.â€) The song’s light electronica echoes ambulance sirens, crosswalk beeps, and other sounds a motorcyclist might hear, while Chao’s half-rapped vocal style has a distinct sense of urgency. It’s a sentiment that can be extended to other parts of the world: During the bleakest days of Covid-19 lockdowns, delivery workers were often the only people visible outside city windows. “São Paulo Motoboy†serves as an appropriate ode to their hustle.
But besides all of that, Viva Tu is just a great Manu Chao album. With eight of its 13 songs clocking in under three minutes, it moves with focused brevity, hitting many of the hallmarks that fans will be craving after such a long drought: Spanish flamenco guitars, smooth percussion, sugary melodies, sleek production. There are also some surprises. Nowhere is Chao’s openness to work new sounds into his own clearer than on his team-up with Willie Nelson for the swampy, harmonica-drenched blues of “Heaven’s Bad Day.†The acoustic guitar riff of “La Couleur du Temps†invokes Plain White T’s 2000s pop culture staple “Hey There Delilah.†And on the home straight of “River Why,†a song Chao has been kicking about for quite some time, he suddenly starts to sing an old nursery rhyme: “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.†It’s a mischievous ripple on an album that will retain Chao’s position as an intercontinental songster with broad appeal.
