Gal Costa: Índia [MR BONGO]

Why you'll love it

Mr Bongo presses Índia in a gatefold jacket with a credits insert and labels that replicate the original Philips issue. Its hits "Índia," "Volta" and "Desafinado" made it one of the most loved records of Costa's career.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Credits insert
• Original label replicas

About the album

Gal Costa had a voice that could do just about anything, and on her fourth studio album she let it roam. Índia mixes MPB with tropicália, folk, psychedelia, jazz, funk and rock, and Gilberto Gil steered the whole thing as musical director while also playing acoustic and 12-string guitar.

The supporting cast is extraordinary. Arthur Verocai arranged "Pontos De Luz" and "Presente Cotidiano," Rogério Duprat handled arrangements elsewhere, Dominguinhos plays accordion, Toninho Horta electric guitar and Tenório Jr. organ on "Volta." The title song is lush and dramatic with strings by Mario Tavares, "Milho Verde" is a percussive folk chant, and Costa's "Desafinado," with Roberto Menescal on guitar, turns the bossa nova standard into something intimate and new. Guilherme Araújo directed the production, recorded at Phonogram in Rio and Eldorado in São Paulo, and the mix of studio polish and loose, adventurous playing is a big part of the album's charm.

Mr Bongo first brought the album back in 2017, and this repress uses the same lacquer cuts. With a lineup like that, the credits insert reads less like a list of players than a hall of fame ballot.

Also at Kops: more Gal Costa on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Mr Bongo / Philips (cat# MRBLP149), a reissue of the 1973 album.