Watch Adron on WCPO Lounge Acts with host Austin Fast.
CINCINNATI -- Save for the zoo's polar bears, we're probably all dreaming of warmer climes at this point in February.
Come Thursday night, Atlanta songstress Adron is taking us there since not all among us have a Brazilian beach vacation on the agenda.
From first listen, Adron's hypnotically voiced songs grip you with their unconventional blend of Brazilian samba, Bossa nova and Tropicália in multiple languages punctuated by birdcalls, whistles and rainfall.
Her music may sound odd to some, but therein lies Adron's appeal. Folk sounds have elbowed their way into the mainstream over the past decade, yet hers is still something undiscovered.
"I do a lot of musical acrobatics, and the lyrics are not quite what you expect," Adron told the University of Georgia's student newspaper in 2012. "A lot of times the lyrics are funny or sardonic, but still optimistic. I want the music to be something that you can subjectively enjoy and manipulate and make into something you like."
Wondering about that Tropicália mentioned earlier? You're not alone. It was a short-lived '60s movement fusing Brazilian and African rhythms with rock 'n' roll and humorous lyrics in protest of Brazil's totalitarian government.
As a teenager poking through a record store, Adron stumbled upon one of the movement's ringleaders, Os Mutantes.
"There was some tag on it that said the 'Brazilian Beetles.' I just felt really at home in a lot of that music, even though I don’t speak Portuguese, and I don’t know the cultural context," Adron told The Red & Black.
This discovery led her to explore other Tropicalia artists and start creating what she calls "righteous tropical pop music" in English, Portuguese and French.
“(As) a songwriter who listens mostly to non-English-language music -- after a while, you start to feel like English just often isn't the right instrument for the vibe you want to get across,” she told Flagpole magazine. “Language is textured and musical all by itself.”
Alongside her sonic artistry, Adron insists on personally creating the visuals for her album art and merchandise. For 2011's Organismo, she drew inspiration from the artwork of the Huichol people of western Mexico to produce an intricately beaded heart sculpture and mask.
Adron has been slowly recording material for her next two full-length albums since at least 2013: a concept album about death and mazes called Thanatrópica and a follow-up to Organismo entitled Water Music.
