Todo Mundo É Uma Ilha

The guitar riff that opens Todo Mundo É Uma Ilha doesn’t sound like what comes next on Longe Demais Das Capitais. It’s short, direct, and carries a playful air that sticks in the memory like a hook, yet avoids predictability. The drums set a rhythm that seems lifted from light ska, though the blend with rock-like guitars distances it from any easy label. It’s that contrast — what doesn’t quite fit — that makes the song feel distinct within the album. Recorded in just one month between May and June 1986 at RCA Studios in São Paulo, Longe Demais Das Capitais was Engenheiros do Hawaii’s first album and the only one with their original lineup.

Marcelo Pitz was still on bass when they entered the studio, but his departure the following year — in May 1987 — would change the band’s sound. The song, clocking in at 2:46, sits there between what the band wanted to test and what the moment allowed them. The single that accompanied it, Toda Forma de Poder, ended up in two soap operas of the time, something that back then helped the album avoid going unnoticed.