Alas, those highlights are not front-loaded on Encanto. The four will.i.am productions (was Wyclef not available?) that bookend the album aren't travesties; even Fergie doesn't fumble "The Look Of Love" with her patented breathiness (although she'll never have enough seductress gravitas to pull it off). But they aren't really Sergio Mendes tracks, either, just pleasant puff pieces, too lite for clubbing and too generic to claim exotica. Worse, Mendes' signature moves on the Fender Rhodes all but disappear in the background. So consider this second comeback a solid if short eight-song, 33-minute demonstration of the keyboardist/producer/arranger's continuing relevance to la raza, and the music's continuing relevance to mass culture -- with a largely superfluous bonus EP of remixes attached. Maybe if this keeps up we can eventually get a whole Sergio Mendes comeback album at once.
Tracklisting
- The Look of Love 4:00
- Funky Bahia 3:58
- Waters of March 3:58
- Odo-Ya 3:51
- Somewhere in the Hills (O Morro Nao Tem Vez) 4:01
- Lugar Comum 4:16
- Dreamer 4:43
- Morning in Rio 4:20
- Y Vamos Ya (...Let's Go) 4:18
- Catavento (Catavento E Girassol) 3:51
- Acode 4:28
- Agua de Beber 4:02
