Carminho - Portuguesa

"The album Portuguesa began to take shape in 2019 and its genesis has the same basis as all the previous ones: a permanent fascination with fado, for its inexhaustible paths and possibilities within the same matrix, and recognizing in it the most natural language to express myself. For me, fado is a language more than a message, a path more than a destination. But if on the previous album I explored the most personal and intuitive experience I had with my family, listening to my mother sing, in fado houses, meeting and learning from the best interpreters, on this last one I dedicated myself to researching the composition and poetry, daring to compose original traditional fados and to delve into technical and historical issues of building a repertoire. In the studio I decided to get the band together for 10 continuous sessions of creation that resulted in the album.

When taking over production, I opted to give space to experimentation, allowing me to explore various combinations within the canons, rethinking the form and thus finding new textures within a classic and mature image. I always look for the orientation of the root but I want to leave space free for the natural contamination of my influences. From an instrumental point of view, fado, and its traditional elements (Portuguese guitar, standard guitar and acoustic bass guitar), are the epicenter of the entire narrative. Already introduced on the Maria album, lapsteel and electric guitar are integrated into the combo, expressing a sense of familiarity as if they had existed forever. The Mellotron is a new element that I added to this combo and the thought was the same: to integrate the chamber characteristics of this instrument, adding other textures to the fundamental basis of fado. The repertoire is partly my own.

Some songs with lyrics and music, some lyrics I wrote for old fados and poems by other authors that I set to music. I have the joy of singing several of my contemporaries, starting with one of the greatest Portuguese poets: Manuel Alegre, who gave me a poem that I set to music; Brazilian composer Marcelo Camelo, Luisa Sobral, Joana Espadinha and Rita VianI was also fortunate to come across poems by two of the greatest Portuguese poets of the 20th century. So I set to music the poems 'As Fontes' by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and 'Palma' by David Mourão-Ferreira. I continue to research and practice this genre, which, being so rich and alive, allows it to be an instrument and language of contemporary thought, now and forever." -Carminho in February 2023