Desfado

Desfado is the fifth album by Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura. It was produced by American record producer Larry Klein in Hollywood, California, and was released on 12 November 2012 in Portugal through Universal Music Portugal, and on 13 February 2013 in the United States by Decca Records. Desfado was met with generally positive reviews by music critics, who praised Moura's vocals. The album counted with the participation of Portuguese songwriters Manel Cruz, Márcia Santos, Pedro da Silva Martins, António Zambujo, and Pedro Abrunhosa, among many others, for the composition of the themes. American musicians Herbie Hancock and Tim Ries contributed in the album, the first being featured in the song "Dream of Fire", whilst Ries in "Havemos de Acordar".

Three singles were released from Desfado; "Até ao Verão", "Desfado", and "A Case of You", the last a cover version of Joni Mitchell. The album topped the Portuguese Albums Chart and since then it has been certified 6× Platinum by the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa, becoming the best-selling album of the 2010s in Portugal, by a Portuguese artist. It also appeared in the charts of Belgium, Spain and the United States. A live edition of the album, titled Desfado, ao Vivo no Caixa Alfama, was recorded in September 2013, during the Alfama Fado Festival. This version won the Amália Award for "Best Album". To promote the album further, Moura toured several performances in multiple countries on her Desfado Tour.

Composition and recording

Unlike her previous albums, which were recorded in Lisbon, Portugal, Desfado was recorded in the United States, at Henson Recording Studios, in Hollywood, California, and it was produced by American record producer Larry Klein. According to Moura, "[e]verything was new [...] [t]he musicians were discovering new things. And I was not used to hearing my voice next to a Fender Rhodes, for example." Portuguese guitarists Ângelo Freire and Pedro Soares contributed with the "fado-alike" sounds, whilst American musicians composed "the most un-fado-like keyboards, saxophone, and drums", as described by Siddhartha Mitter for The Boston Globe. Mitter also described the songwriters to not be "poets who specialize in fado, but by young rock and pop artists, some of whom had not done fado before." And considered the songs to be "wistful, playful, and some are more upbeat than one might expect". About it, Moura said she "wanted to challenge them to write for [her], and to write fado."

For the first time Moura included English language songs into an album, "A Case of You", "Thank You" and "Dream of Fire". Originally, the album did not have such intention, but they wanted to "explore [...] this musical universe". Producer Klein suggested Moura to cover the song "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchell, from Mitchell's 1971 album Blue. Moura commented that she "was very surprised" and she accepted to record it "because [she] love[s] her music". Also Moura considered that "if that song were translated into Portuguese, it could be a very traditional fado lyric." Jim Faber for Daily News considered the inclusion "perfectly fits both the fado’s flair for agony and its rich poetry."

American musician Herbie Hancock was featured as the Fender Rhodes pianist for the song "Dream of Fire", which was credited to be written by Moura. According to her, she did not write the song (she wrote the melody), but it was written by a friend of her "who cannot sign it". Hancock appearance was a "happy coincidence", according to Moura, because she told Klein she was "a fan of Hancock music". Klein was collaborating with Hancock in another project, so he contacted him. Hancock happened to have listened to her previous work, so he accepted to work with her. In "Havemos de Acordar", written by Pedro da Silva Martins (guitarist of Portuguese band Deolinda), American saxophonist Tim Ries plays the soprano saxophone. Da Silva Martins also wrote "Desfado", which Cliff Bellamy from The Herald Sun described as "danceable". A second cover song was included, titled "Thank You", originally performed by David Poe.

Release and promotion

Desfado was released on 12 November 2012 through Universal Music Portugal. Three months later, it was released in the United States on 26 February, through Decca Records, being the first time Decca publishes a Moura album. To promote Desfado, three singles were released and Moura did several performances worldwide through her concert tour Desfado Tour. Also, three different versions of the album were launched, the Standard edition (including 17 songs), the International edition (including 14 songs), and a Deluxe edition, titled Desfado, ao Vivo no Caixa Alfama, featuring live songs recorded in September 2013, during the Alfama Fado Festival.

Singles
The lead single from Desfado was "Até ao Verão" (English: "Until Summer"), which was released on 15 October 2012. In its music video, Moura walks into a house, she goes to the bedroom, and then she starts to pack her things, including clothes and books, and subsequently leaves the house. Other scenes of Moura singing in front of a wall are intercalated. The second single, the eponymous song "Desfado", was released on 7 January 2013. No official video was released to promote the song. At the 2013 Portuguese Golden Globes it won Best Song; it also won the 2013 Prémio Autores for Best Song.

"A Case of You" was released as the third and last single on 21 January 2013. Its music video, directed by Aurélio Vasques, features a couple (played by Paulo Pires and Ana Rocha). During the first part of the video it is shown the way they live at their home. At some point, she, a painter, decides to paint a wall inside their home. Her boyfriend gives her a wine glass, and then she throws its red content to the wall. Rather than using paintbrushes, she uses her hands to expand it through the wall. Her boyfriend starts reading a book, until he falls asleep. Later, over the red canvas, she starts painting with black paint her boyfriend's face. As she finishes painting it, a flashback appears; in it she walks to the wall with a knife on her hand. It is covered with the same red liquid the wall has painted. The video ends with Rocha's character smiling whilst she cleans-up the knife with her fingers. Throughout the video, scenes featuring Moura whilst she sings in front of a black background were added.

Desfado Tour

To promote Desfado, Moura shipped in her concert tour Desfado Tour. With over 300 shows, Moura presented in multiple countries, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

Reception

Commercial reception
Desfado debuted at number 2 on the Portuguese Albums Chart in the week ending 24 November 2012. For 31 weeks the album remained into the top ten until it managed to top the chart in the week ending 15 June 2013. Overall, the album stayed in the first place of sales in Portugal for 6 weeks, and until November 2014 the album had not left the Top 30. The album re-entered the Top 30 in January 2015. Since its release, it has been certified 6× Platinum by the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa, making it the 2010s' best-selling Portuguese album in the country. Also, in Portugal, with 127 weeks in the top 10 and 241 weeks on the entire chart (as of August 2017), it is the all-time best-charting album, and it reached the top 10 in 6 consecutive years, from 2012 to 2017.
 
Elsewhere, Desfado debuted and peaked at number 198 in the Belgium region Wallonia, whilst in Spain debuted and peaked at number 39 on 24 February 2013. In the United States it reached number 7 on the Top World Albums.

Critical response

Desfado received generally positive reviews by music critics. Robin Denselow wrote for The Guardian that Moura performed in the album "exquisite as ever", but he considered the decision of using additional instruments to her fado trio as a mistake. Denselow noted an exception with the song "Dream of Fire", where he thought Hancock contribution was "fine". In her review for PopMatters, Deanne Sole praised Moura's voice, saying it makes the album "good, [because of her] strong unwavering contralto, excellent on the sad-hopeful tone". The New York Times reviewer, Nate Chinen, suggested Desfado to be "renovator" and wrote it presents Moura's "ambitions even if she had stuck to Portuguese". Whilst Mariano Prunes asserted to say Moura combines "tradition with modernity", Clive Davis for The Times called it "outstanding", and George W. Harris for Jazz Weekly said even if the listener does not understand Portuguese lyrics, they could be felt, as Moura "sings around bouyant, [sic] bouncy and festive strums and sensuous string picking." Simon Broughton for the London Evening Standard gave the album four out of five stars. In his review, he commented Desfado  has "nothing melanchol[ic]", but described "Até ao Verão" and "A Fadista" as "gorgeous", but he considered the song "Dream of Fire" as "not memorable"; a similar feeling Peter Margasak had with "Dream of Fire", saying it is "bland" and "superfluous". Also, Margasak, writing for the Chicago Reader, described Moura's voice as "beautiful".

Manuel Halpern wrote for Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias that Desfado seems "designed for the Grammys", and that Moura "won wings and discovered a fate beyond fado". Meanwhile for Visão, he considered that Moura "went around the fado and chose a happier destiny". For Ípsilon, João Bonifácio said that "[a]s the title indicates, Desfado is a kind of deconstruction of fate, except that, instead of the usual in this type of adventure, does not enter into dialogue only with the roots of Portuguese music but other records such as song or ballad almost soul-American." Pedro Mexia noted "[t]he madness and the dream born an album, which some call unorthodox, but she refuses to catalog." Later, he said "A disc that 'is not fado', but that has fado and a fado singer." Alexandra Ho wrote for Sol that Moura is "at risk" and she "echoes the past, but it is the experimentation dictates the future." Ho considered both Prince and Larry Klein as "responsible for the change." For Metro Brasil, Bruno Martins noted the album "is not a new fate", instead, it is "against a way of going to the heart to seek new ways of painting."

Siddhartha Mitter ranked Desfado at number nine on Boston Globes "Best Album of '13 Picked by the Globe's Critics", and added that Moura "has made a fado album that breaks traditional rules but pays off in sheer style." Desfado was listed as the Best Album of the Year 2013 in the World Music category by The Sunday Times. In July 2014, the live version of the album, Desfado, ao Vivo no Caixa Alfama, won the Amália Award for "Best Album".

Track listing

Credits and personnel
Desfado was recorded at Henson Recording Studio, located in Hollywood, California, whilst vocals were recorded at Market Street Studio, Santa Monica, California, and Estúdio Pontozurca, in Almada, Portugal:

Jay Bellerose: Drums and percussion
Ângelo Freire: Portuguese guitar
Bernie Grundman: Mastering
Helik Hadar: Recorder and mixer
Herbie Hancock: Fender Rhodes electric piano in "Dream of Fire"
Larry Klein: Record producer
Freddy Koella: Violin and string arrangement in "Thank You"

Dean Parks: Guitars
David Plitch: Bass
Ana Moura: Vocals
Tim Ries: Soprano saxophone in "Havemos de Acordar"
Pedro Soares: Guitar
Patrick Warren: Keyboards

Chart positions and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links
 Desfado at Ana Moura Official Website

Category:2012 albums
Category:Albums produced by Larry Klein
Category:Ana Moura albums
Category:Decca Records albums
Category:Fado albums
Category:Jazz albums by Portuguese artists
Category:Portuguese-language albums
Category:Universal Music Portugal albums