Charme

Zopelar arrives on Tartelet Records with Charme – an album of effervescent machine funk harking back to a golden era of Brazilian party music, releasing October 21. Stemming from an emotional sincerity to reconnect with his Brazilian background, Pedro Zopelar releases a 10-track celebration of life, music, and good times enjoyed. The album is inspired by a particular phenomenon that caught on at suburban parties in 1980s Rio de Janeiro: “Charme was like a mix of slow boogie, R’n’B and new jack swing. DJ Corello started calling ‘charme’ the moment at a party when he played slow grooves and the people started dancing with sexier, synchronized moves. On this record I tried to make something that brings this feeling out in a modern way,” Zopelar says. Much like the original genre-not-genre he drew inspiration from, Zopelar’s approach across his latest LP spans different moods and tempos. There’s blissful, sultry mystery lingering around “Clara” and “Do You Feel?” while “OSAGIE” lends some chops to the exquisite, Rompler-powered synth funk of “Chain Net”. The lead singles “Charme”, “Shibuya” and “Passado” all tap into varying shades of deep house, from slinky City Pop-tinted loungers to peak-time dance pop and Larry Heard-influenced flavors, with the constant being Zopelar’s immaculate production and the unbridled warmth of his compositions. Zopelar’s music has been emotionally charged since he first broke through on Brazilian labels like Mister Mistery and D-Edge, before connecting to international crews like Apron, Connaisseur, and Endless. As a multi-instrumentalist growing up in rural Minas Gerais, his musical training has been applied to various collaborative projects such as My Girlfriend, Radioworkers, and Sphynx. Continuing the Latin-rooted theme of Charme, the artwork conception of Charme was realized by multidisciplinary artist and curator Ode, showcasing a popular style of street paintings made by anonymous artists throughout Latin America, using walls to paint food and drink menus and the like.