Cara de Espelho

No one by now can be ignorant of the far-right rise all over the world. In Portugal, the alarm is sounding just as the country is due to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution that put an end to the longest European dictatorship of the 20th century. That is the background for Cara de Espelho: re-enabling protest song in order to sing about tax havens, figureheads, mythifications of a country’s grandiose history, misconceptions about immigration and political leaders that feed on the fear and resentment they spot around them.

As it was with Deolinda, Cara de Espelho are a vehicle for Pedro da Silva Martins’ songs and lyrics. But they are also one of the most exciting bands one could dream of, as they gather members of Deolinda, Gaiteiros de Lisboa, Humanos, Ornatos Violeta and A Naifa. This means Carlos Guerreiro brings with him a bunch of traditional sounding self-invented instruments (central to ‘Dr Coisinho’), Nuno Prata and Sérgio Nascimento add a rockier balance to the mix (‘Testa de Ferro’ and ‘Político Antropófago’), Luís Martins does wonders with every sort of guitar (‘Fadistão’ and ‘Genuinamente’) and Mario Antónia ‘Mitó’ Mendes sings with her trademark style somewhere between fado and post-punk.

Throughout, this album presents Lisbon’s sound as both traditional and contemporary – perfectly portrayed in ‘Corridinho Português’, ‘Dr. Coisinho’ and ‘Fadistão’ – making sure tradition is porous to every social shift.