Caetano Malta’s debut Eterna Juventude arrives as the product of two decades spent inside Brazil’s musical ecosystem — performing, collaborating, arranging, and absorbing the cultural intensity of São Paulo. Now based between Brazil and Europe, Malta channels those experiences into a record that blends AfroBrazilian rhythms, psychedelia and the curiosity of childhood with a craftsman’s precision. The album reflects both his long technical formation and a renewed sense of play sparked by fatherhood, travel, and years of creative partnerships. In this interview, Malta traces the influences, memories, and processes that shaped Eterna Juventude, offering a clear look at how his musical identity has evolved and where it’s headed next.
São Paulo is a whirlwind of colour, noise, and creativity. What parts of that chaos do you carry into your music?
I feel like I embrace all of São Paulo’s chaos. All of Brazil and a good part of the world are in this city. The first artist I followed was Wado from Alagoas, then Momo from Rio de Janeiro, then I played with Lucas Santtana from Salvador, Buhr from Recife, several female singers from Belém do Pará, and so on. The musical scene in São Paulo is incredible, and that makes creativity and musicianship explode. Every time I go back to Sampa, I draw immense inspiration from this scene, and new compositions start springing up in my head very naturally.
Your sound is like a musical kaleidoscope — Tropicalia, MPB, AfroBrazilian rhythms, psychedelic folk, pop. When you twist the kaleidoscope, what patterns do you love seeing the most?
One of my favourite blends is AfroBrazilian with psychedelia. In Céu Neutral and Infinito Vão, I mix the Ijexá rhythm with psychedelic folk, passing through synthesizers and the Northeastern troubadour style. It’s an unusual combination that came about very naturally — nothing was planned.
After twenty years of playing, touring, and collaborating, what feels like the most “Caetano Malta” thing about your music?
Precisely this psychedelic Ijexá, as well as the reinterpretation I do of the electric guitar style found in Congolese rumba.
Eterna Juventude bursts with childlike wonder. What unlocked that playful, imaginative world for you?
This imaginative world was always unlocked; what fed it enormously was the birth of my daughter and all the memories of my own childhood that came along with that process.
The album dances between sophistication and simplicity. How did you keep it feeling both clever and delightfully effortless?
By not overthinking the process. Allowing ideas to come in the most natural and instinctive way possible. My benchmark is always my feelings and emotions. But behind it all, there are 30 years of musical study and research.
Childhood’s ability to reinvent the world is a big theme for you. What’s one childhood memory that still fuels your creativity today?
It’s the trips with my parents and my siblings… the song A Viagem Com Os Meus Pais is exactly that. We took many road trips when I was little, and they shaped my personality. One in particular was to a farm in the Pantanal. I remember the car getting stuck in the mud on the road — a true adventure!
If Eterna Juventude had a secret “heart track,” the one that quietly holds everything together, which would it be?
Estrela. Inside it, you find the birth of my daughter, memories, Congolese guitars, progressive music, and some other influences.
When you start a new song, who shows up first — the singer, the songwriter, or the multi-instrumentalist?
Usually the songwriter. Everything starts with a melody.
Your melodies feel like they smile at the listener. How do you coax them into being so bright and memorable?
I borrow them from universal intelligence. When we are calm and connected to the present moment, we can catch those melodies or ideas. They are always floating around us, but you have to reach the right state of mind to capture them.
Rhythm seems to be one of your favourite playgrounds. Which rhythmic ideas were the most fun to explore on this album?
Everything AfroBrazilian was a lot of fun to work on, especially watching Bruno Buarque construct the grooves with his incredible percussion instruments.
Was there an instrument that became your mischievous partner in crime while shaping Eterna Juventude?
Yes, my Moog MG1 synthesizer.
You’ve worked with an incredible list of artists. What’s one lesson from those collaborations that still surprises you?
The lesson that still surprises me is the everlasting perseverance of all these artists.
Playing in other people’s projects can be like trying on different musical outfits. Which “outfit” taught you the most about your own style?
Reggae. Lucas Santtana and Flavia Coelho have a deep-rooted reggae essence in their songs.
Are there any tiny collaborative fingerprints hidden in Eterna Juventude — little Easter eggs listeners might discover?
Yes — in Domingo Matinê, the flutes and glockenspiel by Maurício Fleury, and in Infinito Vão, the synthesizers by Fabio Pinczowski. They also made the arrangements for those parts.
Paris and São Paulo are wildly different worlds. How do they each sneak into your music?
São Paulo takes over a large part of my music, while Paris added a nice dose of Congolese guitars.
Has living in Europe changed the way you hear Brazilian music — maybe even made you fall in love with it in new ways?
Exactly. I became more Brazilian while living in Europe, and Brazilian music became even more essential to my general existence.
What’s one thing from Brazil and one thing from Paris that always follow you into the studio?
From Brazil, it’s the madness and the unbridled, fearless creativity. From Paris, it’s objectivity and pragmatism.
Bambini and Au Revoir Saudade each explored different corners of your musical universe. How do they connect to the world you’re building in Eterna Juventude?
Both albums were composed around the same time. What connects the two is brincar — a word in Portuguese that means “to play,” but without any intention of winning; playing just to have fun, simply playing around. Everything is one big game. For example, Domingo Matinê was a song I composed for Au Revoir Saudade, playing around with the idea of making a “samba for foreigners,” and it ended up on my solo album.
Touring Bambini across so many cities must have been an adventure. What’s one moment from the road that still makes you smile?
For Bambini, I toured mostly in a solo format, which brought me very beautiful and intimate experiences. In Brussels, playing for an attentive, curious, and warm audience yielded truly magical moments.
What made Favorite Recordings feel like the right home for your debut?
They are an established label with great physical distribution, and they make gorgeous vinyls. They loved my music and made a great offer; we have many mutual friends and get along very well. It’s been a great partnership.
Favorite has a beautiful Brazilian thread running through its catalogue. How does Eterna Juventude weave itself into that story?
I think it nicely complements the artists they have already released, always following that organic and analog vibe that they love.
The label is known for warm, analog textures. How did that sonic warmth shape the album’s personality?
I think the album — and my projects in general — already leans into that. Naturally, we reinforced those textures even further, and the vinyl mastering really warmed up the sound.
Releasing your first solo album is a big moment. What does it feel like — exciting, surreal, a little magical?
Exciting and magical. I’m happy to release this album into the world surrounded by wonderful partners. It feels natural and even inevitable; when I played the songs from Bambini for a few friends, they loved them and motivated me to set up recording sessions. Finally, Bambini was finished and this solo career journey had begun — now it can’t stop.
What do you hope listeners feel the very first time they press play on Eterna Juventude?
I hope they can travel through these memories and disconnect from the world. I hope they connect with their own childhoods and feel that joy and wonder. I hope they play with their children.
After creating such a vibrant, imaginative debut, what new adventures do you see on the horizon?
I’ve already started working on two new albums in São Paulo: one in collaboration with Rubinho Jacobina, a partner from Rio who used to live in Paris — we have several songs together — and another album with Lenis Rino, a producer and drummer who is a great friend of mine with whom I share a special synergy; we compose together very easily.
Buy Caetano Malta – Eterna Juventude on Bandcamp
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