Let's talk Latin America

Music focus: Os Mutantes

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“Os Mutantes gave the Tropicália movement a new dimension by using electronic instruments for the first time in the Brazilian music scene […] In doing so, we accentuated the powerful and beautiful lyrics, the strong, daring messages of the Tropicália movement” Rita Lee, Lead singer of Os Mutantes

Os Mutantes, arguably Brazil’s most influential psychedelic rock band, are playing in London on November the 18th. It is a bit too late to get tickets, but never too late to get to know the musical group. Regular collaborators with Brazilian superstar Gilberto Gil, together they pioneered the Tropicália style that meshed typically Brazilian sounds with the shimmery pop of international artists such as the Beatles. Even during my teenage years, 50 years after the band emerged, Os Mutantes were still synonymous with ‘cool’: my chicest friend had their album cover framed, which I thought to be the height of sophistication. It was an admittedly pretentious  phase, but she was at least right on with her musical taste. Sophie Wall