APKA! is neither bossa nova nor samba and yet, it’s definitely Brazilian. Sao Paulo’s Céu sings in the calmingly low key yet sensual and watchful tone that characterized much of her country’s great music from the 1960s and ‘70s. She can summon something like fury on “Forcar o Verao,” whose electro-sandpaper texture rides at rock tempo. More typical is the sunniness of the opener, “Off,” whose gently rolling beat suggests the inevitability of waves lapping the shore. Céu is accompanied by the same Franco-Brazilian crew hard on her previous album, Tropix.
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