AMG Review of Xinti

Chris Nickson
All Music Guide

For her new outing, Sara Tavares fills things out a bit musically, but never overloads her songs, keeping the feel lush rather than crowded. The overall effect is of a CD where the melodies and voice float, by the very careful application of light touches everywhere. Although rooted in her native Cape Verde and strongly influenced by her adopted home of Portugal, there's a strong pop edge to her songs, with softly memorable melodies that sway rather than pound. She's a good guitarist as well as an entrancing vocalist, and she proves it on the final cut here, an unaccompanied instrumental, "Manso Manso." Initially there's a slight tendency for the songs to meld into each other, but that changes with a couple of hearings as individual characteristics come to the fore, with the delicious "Quando Das Sum Pouco Mais" and neo- R&B of "Di Alma" real standouts. Cape Verde has produced some major talents, and Tavares deservedly takes her place among them.