Sempre

It's no wonder that Katia Guerreiro, looking for a new direction in her career, chose to work with José Mário Branco on her new album. For the past 25 years, Branco has been meticulously crafting one of the most extraordinary musical partnerships in Portuguese music history with fadista Camané. From the very first of Camané's records, Branco (a singer-songwriter in his own right and the producer of landmark albums by José Afonso and Sérgio Godinho) built a language that was improved with each recording. And there is no other fado producer that can get both singer and guitarists to tell a story – minding every word and translating that into music – like he can.

There is enough evidence here of the fairness of Guerreiro and Branco's work together when she goes deep into ‘De Ti Direi Apenas’, ‘Tristeza Velha’ or ‘Rezando Pedi Por Ti’ or when she goes through ‘Quem Diria’ or ‘Dia Não’ with a looseness that is new to her performance. For now, though, Sempre looks like the promising beginning of a new partnership, but one that is still digging to find the right tone for a renewed identity and will take some time to mature.