Tropical Brainstorm

In the wake of her divorce from producer Steve Lillywhite, Kirsty MacColl took the first of what turned out to be many trips to Cuba. The country had a lasting influence on MacColl’s creative and political consciousness over her final years, before a 2000 boating accident cut her life short. Her final album, Tropical Brainstorm, is the product of her love affair with Cuba and the subsequent trips she took to Brazil and other South American locales. Though it was recorded in London, the album is full of equatorial color almost to the point of delirium. Following the runaway success of the late-'90s Buena Vista Social Club revival, numerous Anglo musicians began drawing from Latin traditions. But MacColl knew better than to simply appropriate a foreign culture; she took what she'd learned firsthand and made it her own. Her passion for Cuban culture resounds throughout these songs, but at the same time, they're interwoven with her distinctly British wit. There are even flashes of her Irish roots. Rather than an opportunistic mash-up, Tropical Brainstorm feels like a distinguished account of a curious woman’s worldly travels.