Sergio Sayeg (aka Sessa) is fascinated by “the mess” of music, “the crooked translations that music gets when it travels.” A cultural cannibal like the iconic Brazilian Tropicalistas from the late sixties, Sessa unapologetically and seamlessly mashes musical references, from rock to jazz to samba and soul. A Paulista (São Paulo native) by way of New York City, Sessa’s new album, Pequena Vertigem de Amor (Lil’ Vertigo of Love), expands the sonic universe he’s been building since his debut in 2019. “A bit more nocturnal, open ended, crooked funky,” Pequena Vertigem de Amor channels the late seventies slinky sophistication of Brazil’s MPB scene mixed with the psychedelic soul of Sly Stone and Shuggie Otis without straying from his sonic signature of acoustic guitar, Afro-Brazilian percussion and the dialogue between Sessa’s distinctive vocals and familial female chorus. Born and raised in São Paulo, Sergio started playing music professionally in his teens as guitarist and a songwriter for the moderately successful and internationally distributed Tropicália-inspired band, Garotas Suecas. His family’s relocation to New York City in 2007 made it difficult to continue with the band, but he soon found himself swimming in new and exciting musical waters, including a job working at the infamous Tropicália in Furs record store and stints in bands playing everything from noise rock to soul music. Like João Gilberto’s fabled return to Bahia before returning to Rio with a brand new sound that would be dubbed “bossa nova,” Sergio’s New York sabbatical solidified his commitment to the music of his homeland while exposing him to a wide variety of musical styles and recording techniques. Sergio re-emerged as Sessa with a new distinctive sound rooted in Brazilian musical traditions and informed by eclectic global influences. Released on a small independent label, Grandeza (Greatness) introduced Sessa’s musical voice and aesthetic, nylon-stringing guitar in hand, flanked by Afro-Brazilian percussion and a chorus of female vocalists — common Brazilian elements presented in a radically new style. Settling down in São Paulo after the pandemic made splitting his time between New York City and Brazil practically impossible, he joined forces with Biel Basile (drummer from Brazilian indie darlings O Terno) to work on his sophomore album, Estrela Acesa (Burning Star). While Grandeza’s acoustic minimalism sounded more like ethnographic folk recordings peppered with bursts of cosmic free jazz, Estrela Acesa’s rhythm section resembled a typical rock band with the addition of electric bass and drum kit. Not only did Sessa paint from a different palette on this record, he introduced a different medium to complement the musical themes, commissioning string arrangements from collaborators in Belarus and New York. Working remotely during the pandemic, Sessa traded musical ideas with Alex Chumak (Minsk) and Simon Hanes (New York), both classically trained musicians and arrangers, to create atmospheric and dynamic soundscapes to complement the spare instrumentation and Sessa’s plaintive vocals. With Estrela Acesa, Sessa managed to radically reimagine his sound without sacrificing any of his musical mystique. Sessa’s latest album, Pequena Vertigem de Amor, out in November on Mexican Summer, witnesses Sessa evolving musically, with new instruments (electric piano, drum machine, wah wah guitar) adding new colors to the existing vocal, acoustic and symphonic elements. Lyrically, this collection of songs is a reaction to and a celebration of becoming a father — it’s about personal growth, a new approach to time, reassessing the space music occupies in one’s life. “In an interesting way music became more mixed with my life,” says Sessa. Recorded over the better part of a year at the studio he co-founded (Estudio Cosmo) with Basile, “the songs on Pequena Vertigem de Amor are a mix of intimate chronicles and quiet meditations about life in the face of personal change, of experiencing something so big that you realize your insignificant size in space and time.”