Racional Vol. 3

Tim Maia’s “Racional” albums shouldn’t be news to fans of Brazilian soul music. What might surprise some fans, however, is the existence of a third (and perhaps underestimated) album from this peculiar phase of Maia’s career: Racional Vol. 3, recorded in 1975 but released only in 2011. Like the two first “Racional” albums, “Vol. 3” is pretty much an ode to the Rational Culture sect — an ode, however, expressed through incredible soul arrangements, ones that only Tim Maia could have birthed. Consisting of only five tracks, “Vol. 3” has never really been finished: Maia detached from the Rational Culture sect right in the middle of the album’s production. While Maia’s virtuosity is present in all of five tracks, three of them are particularly catchy: “I Am Rational”, with funk intentions and a hypnotizing guitar solo at the end; “O Supermundo Racional”, for Maia’s goose-bumpy vibratos; and “Que legal”, which immediately made me want to dance and sing.