Ana Frango Elétrico - Me Chama de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua (Mr. Bongo)

What Your Ears Say & The Cover Looks Like

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What We Say

Ana Frango Elétrico has an old, music history filled head on her 25 year old shoulders. With her new LP for Mr. Bongo she manages to distill 50 years of Brazilian Boogie & disco, bossa & string led schmaltzy crooning, throw in a dash of 80s pop & give things a twist when she sees fit. It's a love letter to her country's rich musical heritage & ray of feel good, musical sunshine to banish any autumnal melancholy & geopolitical headache.

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What The Release Notes Say

Ana Frango Elétrico – Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua
Ana Frango Elétrico is the most effervescent and innovative voice to surge up from Brazil’s new wave. Already with two critically acclaimed albums and a swathe of award-winning production turns under their belt, Ana will present their most confident and accomplished work to date on October 20th: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua / Call Me They That I’m Yours. Gesturing to a tradition of Brazilian boogie music, but bouncing with modern pop ebullience, the album sees the Rio artist evolve from a captivating upstart into a surefooted scene leader in full stride.

At just 25, the prolific artist and producer has already garnered worldwide admirers. Ana’s sophomore Little Electric Chicken Heart was nominated at the 2020 Latin Grammys, and found support in the shape of Gilles Peterson and The Needle Drop – as well as from major global media. Since then, standalone singles “Mama Planta Baby” and “Mulher Homem Bicho” have received the WME ‘Best Music Producer’ Award, recognising Ana’s deep passion for music production – a passion which has led to collaborations with nascent Brazilian stars Dora Morelenbaum, Illy and Sophia Chablau. Most recently, Ana was hailed for their co-production of Bala Desejo’s 2022 Latin Grammy-winning album Sim Sim Sim.

With a string of celebrated collaborations and productions added to their CV since Little Electric Chicken Heart, it is unsurprising that Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua finds Ana at their most assured and full-voiced. A fresh swagger – first teased on 2020’s disco stomper “Mulher Homem Bicho” – is immediately present. Album opener “Electric Fish”, with Nile Rodgers bass and shimmering backing vocals, sets a buoyant tone. “Boy of Stranger Things” is its bombastic counterpart. It’s the grooviest Ana has ever sounded. And the most brazen. Lyrically, where Ana was once oblique on personal matters, they are now forthright – lucidly exploring their gender identity, citing accessible cultural reference points (from Stranger Things to Camel Blue cigarettes), and often singing in English. “I’m the boy of the Stranger Things/ I’m not the girl that you think”, they proclaim over funk organ and syncopated percussion. Both sonics and sentiment are rooted in disco – certainly the expansive arrangements and unabashed grooviness; but also Ana taps into disco’s history as music of queer expression.

“I started this album in 2021 with the intention of showing, in means of sound, understandings and feelings about queer love, subjectively exposing myself,” the non-binary artist states – before qualifying that though “feeling was its driving force, the album is really about musical production.”

It is this counterpoint – between “exposing” oneself, and honing a distinctive “production” value – that makes for their most clear and cohesive album to date. Like many of the greats, Ana has that ineffable gift of sounding like themselves regardless of the genre they are exploring. Their distinctive conversational voice is more present in the mix than before – and thematic throughlines of identity, sex and relationships invites you to listen closely – becoming their confidante as they lead you restlessly from genre to genre.

“There’s so many references to different decades,” Ana explains. “Seventies drums with eighties processing … Going back, getting beyond … Testing the limits of organic sounds”. Characteristically playful, on Me Chama, Ana takes vivid and rewarding detours through funk-inflected R&B (“Dela”) and art pop (“Dr. Sabe Tudo”). “Nuvem Vermelha” is a cinematic chanson with lush strings that recalls Arthur Verocai. Then, “Coisa Maluca” loafs with the indie insouciance of Canadian slacker Mac Demarco. Later, “Let's Go Before Again”, is a full-on drum machine workout evocative of Stereolab. “Even if people don't find my own references here, they'll find theirs,” observes Ana. “Maybe that’s this record’s biggest goal.”

Released on 20th October 2023 in a partnership between the Mr Bongo and selo RISCO, Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua / Call Me They, That I'm Yours is a sparkling new chapter in Ana's ever-evolving career.

CREDITS
ME CHAMA DE GATO QUE EU SOU SUA

SIDE A
Electric Fish
(Bruno Cosentino/Sylvio Fraga/Márcio Bulk)
Dela
(Ana Frango Elétrico/Pedro Amparo/JOCA)
Nuvem Vermelha
(Ana Frango Elétrico/ Marina Nemésio)
Coisa Maluca
(Ana Frango Elétrico/ Vovô Bebê)
Boy of Stranger Things
(Ana Frango Elétrico/Alberto Continentino)

SIDE B
Camelo Azul
(Vitor Conduru)
Insista em Mim
(Ana Frango Elétrico)
Let´s Go To Before Again
(Ana Frango Elétrico)
Debaixo do Pano
(Sophia Chablau)
Dr. Sabe Tudo
(Rubinho Jacobina/Jonas Sá)

Musical Production and Art Direction: Ana Frango Elétrico
Ana Frango Elétrico: Vocal (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, B2, B4,B5)
Glockenspiel (A1), Rhodes (A3), Synthesizers (B3 E B5), Maestro (A4)
808 Programming (B3, B4)
Alberto Continentino: Bass (A1, A2, A3, A5, B2, B5), Upright Bass (A4, B1) Synth Bass (B3, B4), Voice (B5), Voice Arrangement (A5)
Guilherme Lirio: Guitar (A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5) Pocket Piano (A5) Whistle (A5) Moog Lead (A2)
Sérgio Machado: Drums (A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, B5) and Oberheim DMX (A2, A4)

Thomás Jagoda: Synthesizers (A1, A2, A3, B4)
Lux Ferreira: Electric Piano (A1, B4) Organ (B2, A5), Synthesizer (A1,B5)

Marcelo Costa: Percussion (A1, A2, A5, B2, B5)
Pablo Carvalho: Percussion (B3, B4)
Rodrigo Maré: Percussion (B3, B4)
Thomas Harres: Percussion (A2, A4, A5)

JOCA: Voice (A2)
Dora Morelenbaum: Backing vocals (A1, A2, A4, A5, B2, B3, B4,B5)
Calu: Backing Vocals (A1, A2, A4, A5, B2, B3, B4,B5)

Aline Gonçalves: Bass Clarinet, Clarinet and Flute (B1)
Marlon Sette: Trombone (A1, A2, A5, B2, B4, B5)
Diogo Gomes: Trumpet (A1, A2, A5, B2, B4, B5)
Gilberto Pereira: Saxophone (A2, B2, A5, B4, B5) Flute (A2, B2)
Jorge Continentino: Saxophone (A5, B4, B5) Flute (A2, B2)
Vovô Bebê: Flute (B3)

Carla Rincon: Violin (B1)
Luisa de Castro: Violin (A3, B2)
Thais Ferreira: Cello (A3, B2)
Daniel Silva: Cello(A3, B2)
Daniel Albuquerque: Viola (A3, B2)
Ivan Scheinvar: Violin(A3, B2)
Thiago Teixeira:Violin (A3, B2)
Luis Felipe Ferreira: Viola (A3, B2)
Tomaz Soares: Violin (A3, B2)

Brass Arrangements
Ana Frango Elétrico and Marlon Sette (A1)
Alberto Continentino: (A5)
Marlon Sette (A2,B2,B4,B5)
Alberto Continentino: (A5)

Strings Arrengement
Dora Morelenbaum: (A3, B2)

Woodwinds and string arrangement of `Camelo Azul´
Vovô Bebê and Aline Gonçalves

Mix: Martin Scian
Digital and Cd Master: Martin Scian
Vinil Master: Angelo Wolf

Vocal Preparation: Paola Pagnosi
Executive Production: Santiago Perlingeiro

Recording Engineers: Pepe Monnerat, Braulio Passos, Ana Frango Elétrico, Vovô Bebê, ngelo Wolf, Kayan Guter, Conrado Kempers, Eduardo Manso, Ivo Costa, Luigi Tedesco, Guido Pera
Assistant Engineers: Felipe Duriez, Thomas Jagoda, Bruno Di Lullo, Luís Fernando F. Marques, Theo Albertino, Beatriz Tannure

CD
Graphic Design: Maria Cau Levy
Photos: Hick Duarte
Tiger Illustration: Fernanda Massoti
Tiger Image Processing: Marcelo Guarnieri

Vinyl
Graphic Design: Maria Cau Levy
Photos: Hick Duarte
Cover Illustration: Fernanda Massoti
Inside Illustrations: Ana Frango Elétrico
Pattern: Maria Cau Levy
Images Processing: Marcelo Guarnieri

Zine
Art Direction: Ana Frango Elétrico and Maria Cau Levy
Layout: Maria Cau Levy
Illustration: Fernanda Massoti (11)
Pattern: Ana Frango Elétrico (20), Maria Cau Levy (15)
Images Processing: Marcelo Guarnieri and Maria Cau Levy

Photos
Photography: Hick Duarte
Production: Roger Luz
Styling: Hick Duarte and Camila de Alexandre
beauty: Camila de Alexandre
Photo assist: Gael Oliveira and Gabi Matos
Creative Director: Ana Frango Elétrico and Hick Duarte
Acknowledgements: Estúdio Galpão and Rafael Marques

licensed by selo RISCO (2023)

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