As Bob Dylan once remarked: "Some may like a soft Brazilian singer, but I have given up all attempts at perfection." Tom Zé made his debut in the late 1960s as an insurgent voice of Tropicália, a movement that lampooned the generals in power in Brazil and also rebelled against prevailing notions of good taste in Brazilian popular music -- often associated with the suave sound of bossa nova. The refusal of bossa nova's aesthetics of "perfection" was central to the brash hybridity of the tropicalists, who reveled in startling sonic juxtapositions of rock, samba, and a variety of regional Brazilian genres.This didn't stop Tom Zé from "studying" bossa nova from a perspective that was slightly awry and decentered. Recent albums have revealed a lyrical, melodic dimension of Tom Zé's music, which was previously obscured by his quest to unsettle and subvert the tradition of Brazilian song. Yet here he embraces the soft beauty of bossa nova on his own terms. With a host of Brazilian guests and a cameo from David Byrne.