Week 296: “On A Better Day” by Colman Brothers

colman brothers

Britain’s Colman Brothers do for Bossa Nova what acts like Breakestra and Menahan Street Band do for funk; they bring the genre into the present day without dressing it in 21st-century clothing.

Every song on their self-titled 2012 album feels like it could have been written on a sunny day in Brazil in the 1960s, when in fact it’s more likely to have been written on a drizzly day in London earlier this decade. The album art is straight out of another era, and the music fits the aesthetic. Just take a listen to the album’s opening track and try to avoid compulsive hip-swinging. It can’t be done.

But if you’d rather lie on your couch pretending it’s a beach chair and that your living room is Ipanema, then this song is the one for you.

What makes this a beautiful song:

1. Every once in a while there’s a hint of vibraphone.

2. The muted trumpets that come in at 1:44 are a great contrast to the richer, softer horns that anchor the song.

3. The percussion at 1:52. What is it about a syncopated rim hit that makes my tailbone and my cranium wiggle in opposite directions?

Recommended listening activity:

Speaking to an imaginary bartender in imaginary Portuguese.

Buy it here.