In seven days at Wolf Studio in Rio de Janeiro, Jadsa joined producer Antonio Neves, presented the songs to a team of musicians on the eve of the sessions, and — almost improvisationally — shaped the sequence of what would become one of the most acclaimed albums of recent years.

Big Buraco unveils “a universe that is glorious and fantastical — the sea, all the fruits, and a mother’s love” — in a cluster of songs that celebrate Jadsa’s own compositional ideas with the freedom and confidence of an artist with over a decade of career. In this new chapter, she echoes great Brazilian singers and interpreters by engaging more directly with MPB, Brazilian neo-soul, Rio–Bahia sambas, reggae and even blues. At the same time, hip-hop scratches and beats intertwine with her rhythmic syllabic phrasing and the vivid imagery of her affectionate lyrics, creating a work that is distinctly her own and warmly textured — pop in form, yet retaining Jadsa’s gesture, body and voice at its core.

Is what is being said truly what she wants to say? Does she in fact say it, or is it you who wants her to say it? The ambiguity — present from the album’s very title — opens space for irony and irreverence that run throughout the record. While the artist presents a sunlit landscape of love and life, varnished by samba and a nearly magical aesthetic Brazilianness forged through language and instrumentation, everything exists within a vast hole. A giant space in which the country, the music industry, and the Brazilian artistic body find themselves.

For those who were not satisfied with her glass eye, Jadsa removes it and reveals this immense hole of ours, into which she places absolutely everything she can. She turns her own life into a dramaturgy at the service of her music — a gesture perhaps rooted in her beginnings in theatre. She stages her own platform, raises her curtains and carefully performs her personas. She sketches characters with the ease of someone seasoned. And, as always, she sings with a smile.

Pedro Antunes de Paula