Maria João is a living treasure, a globally recognised and applauded artist who has never ceased to be restless from a creative point of view, constantly willing to risk new adventures, seek new solutions and present new projects. The future is always the best place, believes the singer who over the decades has been an active voice in various fruitful partnerships, from Mário Laginha and Carlos Bica to Aki Takase.

Now, echoing her ancestry, Maria João is once again flying between Lisbon and Maputo to create, in the company of João Farinha and André Nascimento, allies of the OGRE project (with whom she has recorded several albums since 2012, including the recent and highly acclaimed ‘Songs For Shakespeare’, from 2022), a new album that combines her original voice with soaring and evocative electronic textures.

With the collaboration of new and recurring musicians - from drummers Silvan Strauss and Texito Langa to guitarist Valter Mabas and percussionist Cheny Wa Gune, responsible for the warm timbila colours - Maria João's new work also emphasises the communal power of voices through the TP50 choir in which Xixel Langa, Xizimba, Leticia Deozina, Nadya Cosmo and Onésia Muholove harmonise. Mozambican legends Mucavele and Stewart Sukuma also add their voices to those of the Portuguese singer.

Portuguese musician and producer Luís Fernandes, a recognised artist in the field of electronic avant-garde, was responsible for the production of a work that involved travelling between Portugal and Mozambique and musical bridges between the past and the future, jazz and world music, rhythm and melody.

With 10 new songs, including the single ‘Ao Sol’, this new record by Maria João presents an original musical vision in which her unique and passionate voice takes centre stage, once again asserting itself as an unparalleled expressive force, capable of the deepest emotions. ‘Esperança’, “African Foxtrot”, “O Amor é Verdadeiro”, “Beatriz”, “Dário”, “As Tuas Tranças”, featuring Mucavele, who also wrote the music, “Papalaty”, by Sukuma, “Dia” and “Praia” complete the line-up of a work that is a testament to the life, ingenuity and artistry of one of today's most challenging and striking voices