I spent my Sunday night talking with Brazilians and tweeting about the Brazilian election, and I spent a lot of yesterday continuing those conversations.
It's honestly not a country I knew a lot about - and I still don't, but I am a quick study. And Portuguese has always fascinated me. I really wanted to post a Brazilian song today.
I really didn't expect it to be this one.
Bonde do Rolê is a group I've posted about before, and I have to be honest - I thought I had posted about the 2007 single - from their album With Lasers - so many years ago. It has long been a favorite song of mine, in any language. The fact that they happen to be from Curitiba, Brazil.
Marina Ribatski - who did not stick with the group long enough but long enough to make that classic album - was so charismatic and truly did enjoy and go crazy ("Solta o Frango" is slang that means this).
You can see in this live performance that Marina really knew how to command an audience.
But by the end of 2007, Marina had left the band.
The group replaced her with TWO women - Ana Bernardino and Laura Taylor. In this performance from Coachella 2008, Laura takes lead.
Bernardino would later leave the band.
Anyway, they were fine with these two woman, but they were better when they weren't singing Marina's songs....
I've thought about doing a Down Under month like I do for Canada.
Because right now, Australian music is among the best in the world.
Take Mallrat and her 2025 album Light hit my face like a straight right. That was the best hyperpop album of 2025 and still spins on heavy rotation for me in 2026. This song, the fifth single from the album, has been on really heavy rotation for me lately. The frenetic pace of the song - which is at its core a love song - grabs the listener and does not let go. Co written by Grace Shaw (who is Mallrat), Styalz Fuego and Gab Strum (the later two who produced the album), it is absolutely brilliant.
Mallrat opened for Tove Lo last month on some dates of her tour - and here she is playing this song to an arena crowd. She's already commanding the stage, so I see great things coming.
We haven't actually gotten here yet, and I'm a little surprise.
Rosalía released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2025 with Lux, which was three years in the making. It was an excellent album, too - a real breakthough for the Spanish artist who does perform in several languages.
My first introduction to her was her 2022 album Motomami. This song - which takes its name from a Puerto Rican slang term for outstanding rhythm - combines reggaton and electronic worlds to make a fusion that is unique and personal.
The song would become a huge hit in Spain and on the US Latin charts.
This is a song that has been performed live a LOT. It is high energy and the performance reflects that.
And yes, of course she opened her Coachella set with the song.
I haven't been talking about Australian music much lately. So, let's do that.
You see, last week, the Australian Music Prize announced their nine album shortlist for their $50,000 prize. I did have a bit of a prediction list, and I have to say I think I guessed 6 of the 9 ahead of time. My real wild card pick was Beanpole by Georgia Knight.
Imagine my surprise when I was right about this one. And, to her credit, so was Georgia Knight.
"I’m very pleased to be shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize. I hadn’t thought of this album as being musically competitive, so that’s surprising. It hasn’t really sunk in. Fifty thousand is exactly what I need to make the next album." - Georgia Knight
I don't know how the hell she didn't think Beanpole was competitive, because it is sincerely among my favorite albums of 2026 and one that I am really rooting for to win the prize.
"Desire" was the first single and it is an excellent, sexy song. Check it out!
Danish-Chinese isn't the ethnic combination I thought I needed, but I was wrong.
Best known thus far as a songwriter on Zara Larsson's hit "Midnight Sun" (and in fact on most of the album), she is a musician in her own right. She just released her EP Gao Dan Dan and it is a hyperpop masterpiece. With seven songs in 15 minutes, it is packed TIGHTLY and doesn't let the listener settle from beginning to end.
Born and raised in Aarhus, Denmark - a place not known for diversity - Gao grew up largely embracing the Danish side of her heritage but not the Chinese. With this EP, she embraces the Chinese.
Anyway, this is my favorite song from the EP and you should be checking it out.
Adèle Castillon has a new album coming in November and I am expecting it's going to be really good.
The album will be called (Re)belle. She released the 2nd single last week, alongside a video, and it is really bright and cheery - the best she's sounded yet. I am genuinely looking forward to this album.
I hope you enjoy this video, which runs through the artist's life so far.
