Written by Marilù Ciabattoni
Discovered via Musosoup
Mafalda Minnozzi has quite a lot of experience to show off on her resume: originally from Italy, she then found her way into the music world in Brazil, where, to this day, she has published 20+ albums. She is now based in the US, where she recorded her latest cover album Natural Impression.
Mafalda’s voice is soothing and it slides on you like soap while the instrumentals perfectly match this vibe over her voice. “Começar de Novo” features super relaxing guitar melodies which you particularly hear in your left ear and a piano solo which makes me feel like I’m in the lounge of a luxury hotel, listening to a 1950s jazz band.
“Mas Que Nada” is one of the few songs I already knew and Mafalda gives it her own relaxing spin, while the trumpet speaks in the background.
The album presents at least two sambas, titled “Samba de Verão” and “Samba De Uma Nota Só.”
“Samba De Uma Nota Só” reminds me of “CHICKEN TERIYAKI” by ROSALÍA, which is also built on a single note: usually it is very hard to sing these type of songs because their creativity completely relies on the artist’s vocal performance, and without these skills, the final result might be a bit boring. However, Mafalda gives it flavour thanks to the way she plays around with her voice, singing “Vou a contar com a minha nota como gosto de você” (I’m going to tell with my one note of how I like you).
Mafalda proves to be a fully international artist by singing in Portuguese, French, English and Italian (the latter being her native language). “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” featuring Don Byron, is a true classic of French music, made popular by singer Jacques Brel. The transition from Brazilian bossa nova to traditional French music is as seamless as her accent, which nicely adapts to whatever language she is singing.
“E Penso a Te” is another timeless classic, this time of traditional Italian pop music: it’s one of those songs which has been covered by countless artists, old and new, in the years after it was released. However, Mafalda manages to bring out the lyrics in her mother tongue.
Together with vocals-heavy tracks, we also find bits where Mafalda’s voice is merely following and embellishing the instruments, interacting with them as if her voice were an instrument in and of itself.
If you want a great album to chill or daydream to, this is it!
Discovered via https://app.musosoup.com #sustainablecurator