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Forro in the Dark: Light a Candle

Nublu/Nat Geo Music

While the New York City-based Forro in the Dark has evolved over the years, its recorded works have never done its live sets justice. Light a Candle accurately represents the band’s sound, yet comes nowhere near matching the experience of its concert. Not that its recorded works are bad; in fact, they are quite good. The latest features the best production that the foursome—*Mauro Refosco*, Davi Vieira, Guilherme Monteiro and Jorge Continentino — has encountered thus far. Monteiro’s guitar playing is better than ever. The unique flutes (Continentino’s pifano) combined with Refosco and Vieira’s excellent percussion rounds out this distinctively Latin American sound. The band tempers it with reggae (“Nonsensical”) and invites local friends aboard: Brazilian Girls’ Sabina Sciubba adds a chanson vibe to “Silence is Golden,” while Jesse Harris closes the record on the bluesy-country trip, “Just Like Every Other Night.”