Portugese band You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown releases their full-length debut album Chromatic on June 20th. If you’re looking for bands to compare them with, this electro/folk outfit has touches of Fleet Foxes and Iron & Wine only bouncier and with an electro-bridge.
Their first single, “Over the Sun, Under the Water” introduces non-Portugese audiences to the style called “fado,” which are songs that express longing and nostalgia (the Portuguese call it “saudade”). The band blends great harmonies, with electro-jangle and a reborn folk/rock aesthetic for an upbeat, catchy tune that begs for the return of summer. “I’ve Been Lost” is a mixed tempo song that starts off as a slower electronic piece, moves into a faster version of itself, transitions to a guitar only with a heavy Portugese influence and then ends as an uptempo speedster. The multiple pacing was odd in some ways, but it works on this one.
You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown is known for their energetic live shows, and both 2010’s self-titled/self-recorded EP, and Chromatic carry that energy. While Afonso Cabral and Salvador Menezes are the founders and main songwriters the band has gradually expanded to a sextet that now includes Luís Costa, David Santos, João Gil and Tomás Sousa.
