Review: on 'Toc-Toc', Ed Motta relearns the pop chorus and makes peace with Portuguese

This is an opinion review. 'Toc-Toc', released Sept. 25, is Ed Motta's 15th studio album and marks his return to pop sung in Portuguese after more than a decade writing and recording in English. Its 11 tracks, from 'Eu Quero Ser Feliz' to 'Voltei Pra Mim', were produced by Motta and Michel Limma and released on his label, Dwitza, in partnership with Germany's MPS.

The shift is in the sound. Where his previous album leaned on orchestral complexity, this one is built on synth bass, programmed drums, electro-funk, soul, ballads and even bossa nova with electronic bass — a clear nod to his early records, 'Conexão Japeri' (1988) and 'Um Contrato com Deus' (1990), and to 1970s and '80s Black American music. Motta told Billboard Brasil he went years unable to write a pop chorus in the language, and the challenge of simplifying drives the project.

The highlight is precisely that willingness to lighten up: with lyrics by frequent collaborator Edna Lopes and one co-write with Leoni, the songs aim for the dance floor and for unwinding rather than virtuosity for its own sake. "The work points somewhere else, not toward bad moods," he told Diario de Pernambuco, as he tries to move past the fallout from leaked audio of a May argument at a Rio restaurant, which he calls "an isolated incident."

The risk is the one he admits himself: "It's one thing to do this at 18 and another at 54." The harmonic polish built over four decades sometimes weighs on the promise of simplicity, and anyone expecting instant hits may find pop made more for close listening than for radio. Still, 'Toc-Toc' sounds like an artist happy with his own language again — and that counts for a lot.

Score: 7/10