Outra Margem

It is a tricky path, the one Vila Navio find themselves exploring: taking Portuguese traditional music and injecting it with Brazilian, jazzy and electronic elements. Often this sort of formula delivers a tacky and terrifying result. Little by little, however, Vila Navio have learned to navigate these troubled waters without sinking due to an excess of willingness to ‘modernise’ tradition. After their 2016 album Ancoradouro, Outra Margem is a finer example of how to take such a contemporary approach and still keep grandiose ideas on a tight leash. There are no major changes in Vila Navio since André Coelho Rodrigues first started out in 2013. Rather than heading in a new direction with each record, Rodrigues has perfected his writing and arranging skills on tracks that have discreetly built a career away from the spotlight.

Outra Margem is a bold record that does not aim to be provocative. ‘Tua Sentença’ and ‘O Proletário’ are laid-back and melancholic songs that continuously flirt with electronics and jazz, but never quite give in. While Rodrigues does not raise the stakes to the same level that The Unthanks achieve with British folk, there is a subtle suggestion of a kindred spirit in tracks like ‘A Lei do Sonho’, using horns and string instruments as a gateway to a new territory – even if it's not paradise yet.