26 Jan Cara de Espelho – the debut album has arrived
They made their debut in October 2023 with “Corridinho Português” and “Político Antropófago,” a double single that introduced the unique sound of Cara de Espelho, the new project in Portuguese popular music, featuring Pedro da Silva Martins, Carlos Guerreiro, Nuno Prata, Luís J Martins, Sérgio Nascimento, and Maria Antónia Mendes. Today, on January 26th, the highly anticipated debut album “Cara de Espelho” is released, available on CD, Vinyl, and all digital platforms, anticipating a tour that will take them across the country throughout 2024, with the first dates already announced.
Exploring the richness of Portuguese popular music, the album takes a journey that is also a tribute to its diversity, its origins, and its history. It’s a story of crossings, encounters, and dialogues among many people, peoples, and cultures that in the past, as well as in the present, contribute to shaping the community and the country we are. A country that is narrated here both in its lightness and festivity, as well as in its shadows and questioning.
Nothing is left unsung in twelve tracks that traverse different sounds, both acoustic and electric, somber or celebratory, also highlighting sonic textures influenced by Arab and African music. And nothing is left unsaid in twelve tracks that delve into the essence of who we are, in these times of conflict and polarization, but also of questioning and commitment to a future that remains open. Each song reflects the virtues or flaws, weaknesses, powers—small or large—idiosyncrasies, vices, of what it means to be a citizen or, broadly, a human being.
Populated by various concerns, Cara de Espelho fearlessly confronts the myths of a supposed “Portuguese genuineness,” so eager to prove its purity that it sometimes forgets that “the guitar is Portuguese / made of holy wood from Bahia,” that “the sovereign codfish / actually comes from Norway,” or that “not even Afonso Henriques / was purely Portuguese” (in “Genuinamente”). Being Portuguese, in the vision of this album, is to be richer, more plural, and diverse, both in its history and in its future. A vision that might not please a certain “Dr. Coisinho,” “the little penis Le Pen,” who “comes out from under the rock” to “objectify fear” (in “Dr. Coisinho”). And it probably won’t please a certain necrophagous creature that “sinks its nails, flesh, skin, and bone / sinks its teeth thirstily into the neck” (in “Político Antropófago”); or even those hungry blowflies that “crave poverty,” “foster disgust, nausea, and revulsion,” turning misery into opulence (in “Varejeiras”).
The critical acumen of popular music is always present throughout the album, which is also rich in its satirical and provocative vein, whether to parody the insatiable political inclination for perks, lights, opulence, and distinction (in “Testa de Ferro”) or to satirize the Kafkaesque labyrinths of the Tax Authority and the saintly financial religiosity, adorned by their sacred tax havens (in “Paraíso Fiscal”).
But this work is not only about criticism and satire; it’s also a celebration of freedom and communal existence. Thus, faced with a world of polarizations, it becomes necessary to denounce the violence and spoils of war (in “Tratado de Paz”), as well as to celebrate this great “Fadistão,” a place blessed by all the voices of cultures singing together (in “Fadistão”), or the possibility of “joining folks together happily / in a corridinho from Lisbon / now and then, and round goes the pair” (in “Corridinho Português”). Ultimately, it’s about singing an idea of freedom that refuses to be imprisoned by fatalism—whether in life (in “Livres Criaturas”) or in the hour of departure, which must be light and danced to the sound of “trumpets and drums, mortars and blasts” (in “Morte do Artista”).
“Cara de Espelho” is based on the words and compositions of Pedro da Silva Martins, along with the instrument constructions of Carlos Guerreiro, the bass of Nuno Prata, the guitars of Luís J Martins, and the percussion of Sérgio Nascimento, to serve the deep, engaging, and unmistakable voice of Maria Antónia Mendes. A collective of musicians who, in recent years, have enlivened some of the most relevant and inventive projects in Portuguese music, and whose debut album has not left indifferent one of the heroes of our popular music. Sérgio Godinho referred to the debut album of the band:
“From such an esteemed group, with proven track records on various fronts, only the best can be expected. The bar is set high, without fear of failure, of being just a comma in time. And if it is, won’t it be worth it for itself, for the shared pleasure of creating something enduring in a moment, of sharing among ourselves the simple pleasure of music, the enthusiasm for music, the cadence, the inventiveness, another form of energy?
So how do expectations get met? By fulfilling them. It may sound redundant, but it’s just the practice of a modern and ancient reality.
Seeing our particular face in the common mirror. A mission well executed from the outset, I say. And in that, I agree with myself, as surely many others will.”
– Sérgio Godinho –