Casa de Fado

There is a long road ahead of Maria Emília, and that means that the young fadista can aspire to become a great voice among the myriad fado singers, but it also points to the fact that her debut album, Casa de Fado, does not make as striking an impression as Carminho's or Gisela João's first recordings.

Brought up in São Paulo, Brazil, listening to records by Amália Rodrigues, Carlos do Carmo and Fernando Maurício, Emília soon figured out that she felt closer to her grandfather's original culture than to her motherland's. Still, there is an obvious looseness in Emília's style that can be perhaps traced into her Brazilian background. It immediately springs out of the title-track where her voice swings with a special grace, but it's also present in popular tunes like ‘É Mentira’. Emília digs even deeper with the piano version of ‘Aconchego’, a huge success in Brazil and Portugal in the 80s due to its inclusion in a soap opera soundtrack. But mostly, thanks to the mastery of producer and guitarist Carlos Manuel Proença, Casa de Fado is a fine introduction to a new singer and her talent. Now it's up to her to decide what she wants to do with it.