Lina - Raül Refree

"For the first time, the Portuguese singer Lina joins forces with contemporary producer Raül Refree to create a new soundscape for these ancient songs, which rather than modernises them unnecessarily, brings a new sense of atmosphere and feel to the 'Queen of Fado' Amália Rodrigues' notable repertoire ... With each of the songs selected by Lina, this album serves as both a homage to her musical heroine, whilst at the same time broadening the appeal of Fado amongst new listeners".

"A Portuguese singer and a Spanish guitarist (and one-time Rosalía collaborator) pair up to translate fado icon Amália Rodrigues' songs into subtly experimental contemporary forms ... Lina_Raül Refree keeps the words and melodies of the source material intact but ditches fado's bright acoustic guitars in favour of piano and analogue synths ... The production throughout is minimal to the point of austerity, creating an intimacy that feels like standing with the duo in a darkened room ... Listeners steeped in Amália's canonical work may balk at this approach but, to an outsider, the duo's methods feel respectful, the production modestly taking its place behind the songs' timeless melodies and Lina's gorgeous vocals. The singer possesses a voice of fiercely intimate power and texture, capable within one brief musical phrase of tempting a bird to the windowsill and blowing the opera doors clean off, as in the show-stopping melodrama of "Quando eu era Pequenina"".

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"While Lina brings fado tradition to the music with her singing, Refree's contributions break with that tradition, rejecting guitars in favour of piano and analogue synths. This results in a quite different timbre to that of traditional fado: the deeper resonance of the piano is boosted further by judiciously deployed synth sounds and the effect is slower and more dreamlike. Quando eu era Pequenina is particularly beautiful, with its expansive piano chords and haunting synth sounds, while Os meus olhos são dois círios, rooted in electronics, is flatter but, thanks to Lina's vocals, scarcely less beautiful".

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"Fado "rewired and recast" in the words of the singer and her producer; Lina bringing tradition, Raül Refree adding experimental soundscapes for her to play in after she heard what he had done for the flamenco singer Rosalía. The Great Amália Rodrigues Songbook (...) rethought for piano and synthesizer instead of guitar, with the singer's unshakable emotion ladled over the top".