Mim Ê Bô

It has been a long wait for Tito Paris to end his self-imposed recording silence of 15 years. A key figure in Cape Verdean music for the past three decades, he travelled the world with his music and has focused on playing live, almost oblivious to any need to record or share new music with his audience.

There is no radical transformation to acknowledge in Mim Ê Bô (I Am You), words Paris heard from an admirer who expressed a profound identification with his songs. Those 15 years have taken no toll on this music: this is such an unrushed album, so effortless in the way it builds on the mornas of Cape Verdean tradition, that we feel like we’re in the presence of an instant classic. It helps that gorgeous songs such as ‘Nha Charme’ or ‘Resposta de Segredo do Mar’ (a duet with the late Bana) are wrapped up in charming arrangements, although, with Tito Paris, elegance is always the main game. There's enough evidence of this in two superb links to the Lusophone world: the rendition of Vitorino's ‘Fado Triste’ and the collaboration with Zeca Baleiro. Let's hope he doesn’t wait another 15 years before the next album.