This Friday, fado singer Carminho releases a new work, recorded by North American producer Steve Albini (1962-2024) in his Chicago studio, which includes three new songs and a version of “Os Argonautas” by and with Brazilian Caetano Veloso.
“Carminho at Electrical Audio”, which will be available this Friday on streaming platforms and will be released on vinyl in NovemberIt was recorded in October last year because Carminho wanted to “understand how a producer like this, a legend of studio recording, would listen to and capture the fado and combo” of the five musicians who accompany her, the artist said in statements to Lusa. .
When on tour, Carminho creates fados that she uses to rehearse with the quintet that accompanies her: André Dias (Portuguese guitar), Flávio Cardoso (fado guitar), Pedro Geraldes (‘Lap Steel Guitar’ and electric guitar), Tiago Maia. (acoustic bass) and João Gomes (‘mellotron’) – so when he arrived at Steve Albini’s studio I already had some topics prepared.
However, “I didn’t have much intention of getting results, because one day in the study could lead to nothing.”
“I didn’t go in with many expectations, but I wanted to live this experience. Get to know him [a Steve Albini]know the study, know its process”shared.
Steve Albini, in addition to being a musician, was responsible for recording countless albums that marked several generations in recent decades, having produced albums by Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders or PJ Harvey, among hundreds of others. Although he was usually identified as a producer, he preferred to be called a sound engineer.
According to Carminho, that It was the first time Steve Albini captured fado themes and the sound of the Portuguese guitar.
And the “talent of this legend in the studio” contributed to the songs “what fado already had.”
“I didn’t go to discover Ovo de Colombo, we went to capture, in the best conditions and with one of the best technicians in the world, one of the greatest producers in the world of recording and studio, traditional fado and fados. “We were playing on a visit,” he mentioned.
When listening to “Carminho en Electrical Audio” “you can almost hear the musical interactions between the musicians, that pulse of a certain adrenaline, a certain vertigo of that moment, because each fado was recorded [em fita] in one, two, three takes.”
The decision to release an album of those four songs was not immediate, because Carminho “was still with his mouth open” about the result.
“Four songs in one day was a lot more than I expected, so I suddenly started fantasizing about continuity, that those songs would have other songs that would be part of an album,” he shared.
With the Death of Steve Albini in May of this year.At 61 years old, that idea ended up being left behind.
“After the shock and after some time, we realized that this would no longer happen. It was then that we asked ourselves if it would make sense to combine songs from a future album, but that wasn’t the case because the sound was very unique, very particular, or if it would make sense for them to cease to exist, not to do so. anything with them. I did it too, but I decided to release it. [as quatro]”, said.
The EP includes a version of “Argonautas”, with Caetano Veloso, and three unreleased songs: “Leixei a minha casa”, “Gota de Água” and “Não look os meu vocês”.
Caetano Veloso was not present at the recording session in Steve Albini’s studio, the idea would be to add his voice later in another session, but this was no longer possible.
“He recorded it in Brazil and then Steve’s right-hand man recorded it. Somehow Caetano was also in that studio,” Carminho said.
Of the three unpublished “two [‘Deixei a minha casa’ e ‘Não olhes os meus olhos’] They are original fados, lyrics and traditional music.” “Gota de Água” was a “little phrase” that the fado singer found in a book by António Gedeão and that she decided to “turn into music.” “The structure is less conventional, but it has that energy of the most nostalgic universe of fado”mentioned the other unreleased song included in “Carminho at Electrical Audio”.
Carminho “was born among fado guitars and voices, daughter of the renowned fado singer Teresa Siqueira, and debuted singing in public at the age of 12, at the Coliseu,” reads the artist’s official website.
He released his first album in 2009, titled “Fado”, which was followed by “Alma” (2012), “Canto” (2014), “Carminho canta Tom Jobim” (2016) and “Maria” (2018).
In March of last year, “Portuguesa” arrived, an album composed of 14 songs, including “The Room”, which was included in the soundtrack of the film “Poor Creatures”, by Yorgos Lanthimos, which was nominated for the Oscars. of this year.
The fado singer appears in the film, premiered in September last year at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy, playing “O Quarto” with the Portuguese guitar, in a scene with actress Emma Stone, on a stage in an imaginary Lisbon. of indefinite time, but where there is no shortage of tiles, old alleys and many custard tarts.
Source: Observadora
