Making her voice heard as Brazilian Pop Takes Another Step Forward
The fresh Summer Soul Pop singles from Ella & The Bossa Beat are out. ‘Slipping Away’ and ‘Underwater’. Brazilian pop, made in the USA.
Summer’s moving quickly here in BossaNovaville, and it’s all about the music. But it’s nothing new. The familiar phrase ‘next Brazilian wave’ pops up whenever it is needed to easily explain TNBT (The Next Big Thing).
But there’s something else going on with Brazilian music these days. A generation of Millennial music makers is pushing the music forward, a sharp contrast to the more or less, laidback attitude held by many just a few years ago.
Dedication to craft and quality are creating steam these days. It’s happening in Brazil with a brace of rising stars, and its happening here in America, too, where Florida is a hotbed for the Brazilian sound.
Since its start in the early ‘90s, Connect Brazil has searched out and incubated the music and the musicians responsible for these trends, and our commitment is just as keen today.
So, loyal listeners to our streaming channels and always-live streaming station are already familiar with Ella & The Bossa Beat and 2020’s debut of My Remedy. The title track became one of the year’s top songs.
The group’s creative core is familial. It’s led by vocalist and pianist Ella Borges, who won the Focus Brasil Award for ‘Orlando’s Best Female Vocalist 2020’. Her dad, Magrus Borges, is the group’s talented drummer, percussionist, and producer. In 2021, Magrus was nominated for a Grammy award together with Bebel Gilberto for her newest album Agora.
These two compose and produce every song together, challenging the musical status quo, pursuing their role with the next big thing, pushing the music forward.
This year, our Hot Brazilian Summer Sounds video playlist includes a pair of freshly-released songs, and here’s Ella to introduce them to you, with her personal thoughts on the message for each:
- Don’t miss the YouTube debut for Ella & The Bossa Beat’s video teaser for ‘Slipping Away’! Friday, July 30th, 4 pm ET. Click here to watch.
Slipping Away
Ella’s lyrics and melody move from a sweet, acoustic Bossa Nova to a smoothly percussive Samba with this song. And you’ll love her vocal chorus breakout, too. It’s a creative touch that fits perfectly with her vision for contemporary Brazilian music.
Ella says:
‘Slipping Away’ was composed very recently actually. One morning I woke up and sat down at my keyboard, switched the patch to a guitar sound, and played around with different progressions that would best resonate with the mood I was in.
I realized that since our schedules have been so busy lately, we usually begin to take for granted the details that come in the process of working, or of the “ordinary” day.
I knew that my body was so used to just repeating the same routine day in and day out to get work done that maybe I wasn’t living the moment.
That’s when I came up with the lyrics “the days seem to go by unnoticed, every motion is set on replay”. And then, “But I think it’s time, to feel present… to feel every touch, to feel every smile, cause time is slipping away.”
Little did I know this was a personal lesson that I have been trying to work on for a long time, and hopefully a message of inspiration to others who might feel the same way.
Underwater
From the first note, ‘Underwater’ sizzles with expectation before settling into the backbeat Samba rhythm that drives her story. Ella’s soulful style goes with the flow.
Ella says:
‘Underwater’ is a song that compares the tranquility found under the ocean with the peace within us.
I have always loved dipping my head underwater and just listening to the “nothing” that surrounded me. Sometimes I’d drift away on thoughts about other kinds of life that are present in the ocean, and how there is a whole other world under the sea.
My fascination with that sense of peace underwater has led me to compare that to the tranquility I have in my life.
I have then come up with the verse “this is where I want to be,” meaning both the peaceful state of mind, and wellbeing that I found myself in, and underwater with the serenity of the ocean life.
I really believe that “nothing could be more valuable than being in peace with ourselves”. And I think the phrase “in peace” means loving and accepting ourselves, and the things we do. Otherwise, how can we proceed with anything else?
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Brazilian Pop Soul from Ella & The Bossa Beat
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