A selection of eleven songs for years present in the artist´s musical universe appear in intimate renditions of voice and piano

Written by Leonardo Lichote / Free English translation by André Oliveira

A suave piano intro prepares the listener to one of the most delicate descriptions of a beloved person written in the Brazilian popular music songbook: “Quindins do meu querer (Sweet love of my desire)”. This and the following verse “Cadinho de cambucá (A bit of cambucá – Brazilian rare bitter sweet tropical fruit) define right there the tone and concept of “Gotas de Sangue (Blood Drops)”, album by Brazilian singer songwriter João Fênix recorded in 2021 in duo with the blind pianist Luiz Otávio. The repertoire spreaded a collection of feelings along the tracks which the artist beautifully conducts: smoothness, delicacy, desire, intimacy, sweetness, uniqueness, Brazilian charm — and a slight bitter-sweet of the cambucá fruit.

“Gotas de sangue (Blood Drops)” was harvested off season as the singer had not planned a voice and piano album. At the start of the pandemic, he was preparing a project of 10 duets turned not feasible due to the sanitary protocols . He then embraked in what became this just released album.

“I had this with me this list of songs I cherish and bring with me for a long. They all speak deeply to my soul and to my melancholic nature. I said to my music producer, guitarist and arranjer Jaime Alem, let´s go to the studio just you, Luiz Otávio and myself. At each session we would be covid tested and we wrapped up the material in five days”

The first track “Quixeramobim” was one of the very few songs not included in his initial list. Written by Ivor Lancellotti and Roque Ferreira it tells of a serene farewell. Lancellotti appears a second time with “Algemas (Handcuffs)”. In addition to these two, the song “Todo homem (Everyman)”, written by Zeca Veloso (son of singer songwriter Caetano Veloso) also made it to the final cut. It is the album´s the second track and explores the powerful shadow of women hovering above the whole album. Its chorus states: “every man needs a mother”.

Emphasizing this feminine power the following tracks speak of male fragility and desperation as described in Jobim´s original “Lígia” and in “Tristeza e Solidão (Sadness and Solitude)” by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, where a heartbroken man appeals to the orixás (Afro-Brazilian deities) to bring back his beloved woman. The whole bluesy atmosphere is underlined by the piano with its pauses and solos matched by the singer´s smouldered but poweful singing.

“Algemas (Handcuffs)”, by Ivor Lancellotti also exposes a man´s weakness before a woman while “Ternura antiga (Old Tenderness)”, by Dolores Duran and Ribamar enlists words such as bitterness, agony, disillusion, emptyness. “Desalento (Dismay)”, by Chico Buarque and Vinicius de Moraes begs “in the name of love, please….for her to come back”. “Sem você (Without you)”, another original by Vinicius de Moraes, co-written with Jobim says once more: “Nothing exists without you/ The world is sad/ Without you”.

The whole album is trespassed by the feeling of dismay, broken-heartedness, and disillusion. João Fênix considers all those things mirror the solitude of man in current times. In this context, the track “O portão (The gate)”, by Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos affirm the importance to have a ground, a house and the feeling of being safe at home. The final track “Gota de sangue (Blood Drop)” brings the listener to a different place in relation to where the listening experience started at the beggining of the album. This song written by Angela Ro Ro, as well as the singer´s approach to it directs the feel towards a more imposing and less pleading vibe, as in the phrase “do not take this glass off my hand”, as well as a wiser instead of desperate attitude as in “It is neither too much nor too little, I must say”. At the end one fully understands the bitter-sweet taste of the cambucá fruit.