Music / folk

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Reviews (2)


The observer

d. 22. Jan. 2017

By

By

Neil Spencer

d. 22. Jan. 2017

"Her two previous albums have found this Portugese singer counted among the new generation of fado vocalists, though Lula Pena has little in common with the theatricality of divas such as Mariza. Indeed, there are times here when her vocals retreat into a delirious mumble, while her repertoire ranges across Brazilian and Greek composers, medieval troubadours, Sardinian folk and Belgian surrealism. Small wonder her adopted theme tune is Come Wander With Me, from 1960s sci-fi series The Twilight Zone. Yet Pena packs a fado-like intensity into her work, marrying her voice to acoustic guitar backings and favouring allusive, poetical songs, intended "to reach a collective unconscious open source". A fluid, multilingual trance that is truly singular".


fRoots

2017 March

By

By

Chris Nickson

2017 March

"Exploring the landscape of the soul and the mind, just one woman with her voice and guitar on a journey through the interior ... A disc that floats of soft beauty, meandering through six languages, taking in poems and songs from mediaeval times to the present day, although she's penned very few of the words herself. Pena's unusual guitar style creates constant, light percussion behind melodies which offer hints of Brazil, of "phado" (her very deliberate spelling of the word), flamenco, a nod to chanson in her deep voice, and more ... Often one track flows into the next, a step that turns a corner and opens up a fresh view ... Somehow, with such basic ingredients, Pena has achieved that rarest alchemy of turning words and notes into art, something far more than the sum of its parts. It transcends language, goes beyond style, and works its gentle magic".



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