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Bebel Gilberto’s Momento is an album that fits moods like a chameleon. Plug in your earphones under the thatched roof of a beachside cantina, and watch the world go by in an easy samba. Back at your flat, and put the CD on while you shower up, mix martinis and heat up for a relaxed night of clubbing. Throw it on again when you get home, whatever the hour, so you don’t get the bends from winding down too fast.

Gilberto’s smoky, breathy contralto and relaxed musical sense make this album a sweet bit of listening candy. There might be a bit too much electronica for my taste, but it’s mainly unobtrusive, and never threatens the bossa feel of a tropical twilight.

Momento is Gilberto’s third solo release. Her 2000 Tanto Tempo is reputedly the biggest selling Brazilian album in U.S. chart history, and garnered her two Latin Grammy nominations, for Best Brazilian Album and Best New Artist. Her self-titled follow-up in 2004 earned a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album. Her latest effort is no let down.

Daughter of Brazilian jazz great João Gilberto (who recorded with Stan Getz), Gilberto has clearly forged her own musical identity. She wrote or co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks on Momento, producing three of them, and co-producing the rest. “I take total responsibility for this album,” she says. “I took a lot of risks: trying different approaches, experimenting with sounds and getting away from the perfectionism of the studio. This one is more about my feelings and views. It reflects who I am now, as a person and as an artist.”

Emblematic of the album’s eclectic feel, it was recorded in the disparate cities of London, Rio de Janeiro and New York, and features work with the band Brazilian Girls, Japanese guitarist Masa Shimizu, and Brazilian Forró musicians Mauro Refosco and Jorge Continentino.

The mood ranges from the lightly upbeat title track that floats along like a Caribbean breeze, and which she says reads like a “secret letter” to herself; to the moody synth sounds bubbling beneath Close to You, featuring a cello solo by Ian Burdge; to the rolling rhythm of Os Novos Yorkinos, with tinges of Native American folk; to a bossa-flavored rendition of Cole Porter’s timeless Night and Day. The drop-dead winner on the album, though, is Caçada (the hunt), written by her uncle, Chico Buarque, in the 70s. The tune has a thrumming, building, light intensity featuring Zabumba drums and Pífano flutes, rich in the Forró style of Northeastern Brazil.

If you are at all inclined toward Brazilian jazz, you’ll probably want this one for your collection. And even if you aren’t, you ought to check this out. It might just make you reconsider.