Caetano Veloso’s new album, zii e zie, is out today on Nonesuch Records, and a six-city US tour begins in New York on April 8. To mark the occasion and celebrate the legendary Brazilian singer/songwriter's 25-year history with the label, the Nonesuch Store is taking 30% off all CDs in the Caetano Veloso catalog this week.

Veloso describes the music on his latest release, zii e zie, as transamba, or, “samba transcending itself.” Indeed, the album has its roots in Brazil’s famous rhythm, but departs from that genre's traditional sound with his trio of young band-members, creating "polished gems of samba-rock," says The New Yorker. The Boston Globe cites the "spare, nervy sound" of the band" and calls it an "accomplished, alluring album." The songs' subjects range from politics to relationships, yet "the one abiding constant," notes New York Times music critic Nate Chinen, "is the sinuous clarity of samba: a thing endlessly variable in its details."

Variable as well is Veloso's 13-album Nonesuch catalog, beginning in 1986 with the spare, acoustic self-titled album, and moving forward through the Arto Lindsay-produced art-rock albums Circulado and Estrangeiro, to his lush collaborations with producer/cellist Jaques Morelenbaum on Livro and Noites do Norte, both tributes to the percussion styles of his native Brazil. Recent additions include the English-language collection, A Foreign Sound, and 2007's spare rock-album, Cê, which features the same young trio as zii e zie. Browse Veloso's complete Nonesuch catalog, all on sale, in the Nonesuch Store.

Following a recent performance from Veloso and his zii e zie band in Argentina, the Buenos Aires Herald said the singer was "as radiant as ever." What's more, said Herald reviewer Ana Laura Caruso, "You don’t need to know Portuguese to understand the words but just experience the joy of listening to his songs backed by this eclectic and awesome rock band." Veloso and his trio will be on tour in the US starting April 8, as listed below. For further details, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

APRIL 2010 US PERFORMANCES

For more information on zii e zie straight from Caetano Veloso, check out the series of video interviews at nonesuch.com/media.