A Mãe

A Mãe

(2009 by UGURU/ SONY Music)

About the album Rodrigo Leão is one of the most well known contemporary Portuguese composers. Both in his own country and internationally. His music has travelled the world and collected applause all over the globe: in Europe, but also in the Far east or in America. That’s why it’s only natural that Rodrigo’s new album, [...]

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About the album

Rodrigo Leão is one of the most well known contemporary Portuguese composers. Both in his own country and internationally. His music has travelled the world and collected applause all over the globe: in Europe, but also in the Far east or in America. That’s why it’s only natural that Rodrigo’s new album, titled «A Mãe» (it means «The Mother»), is almost a travel diary: «This album was written in lots of different places», Rodrigo explains. «In Goa, in New York, in Spain, in Italy or even in Portugal». «The pieces», he goes on, «were written on the move, with different windows opened to the world, and that allowed me to explore different emotions, different ways of looking». Rodrigo Leão confesses that he got used to include on his travel kit a pair of headphones, a laptop computer and a small keyboard with which he composed the stories that can now be heard on his new work that he describes as «more introspective, nostalgic and melancholic». And this, he warns us, «although it features also some more joyful tunes it’s a work that I’ve done turned essentially inwards».
With songs like «Vida Tão Estranha», «Histórias», «Segredos», «Canciones Negras» or «A Corda» this is an album that crosses a certain pop sensibility with sophisticated arrangements and a couple of star appearances from Tindersticks very own Stuart A. Staples, Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon and international tango rising star Melingo. And there’s also the Cinema Ensemble, Rodrigo’s collective that includes Celina da Piedade, Ana Vieira, Viviena Toupikova, Marco Pereira, Bruno Silva, Luís Aires and Luís San Payo.
In the past, Rodrigo has secured collaborations with Portishead’s Beth Gibbons or Ryuichi Sakamoto, both admirers of his work. He is still threading on the same path with the new guests present on «A Mãe». This album was written right after the disappearance of Rodrigo’s mother and it’s much deeper in terms of feelings and emotions. That circumstance has lead Rodrigo Leão to deliver his most personal album to date, but also one touched by universal emotions that everyone can relate to.