NAPA
Logo Se Vê

Last month, I made an interesting discovery, namely NAPA, a band from Madeira, Portugal, which is generally known only there... delving into my knowledge and reading the little available about them (a single article of maybe 200 words), they have a lot of experience, but the large Portuguese public only got to know them this year with the victory at the Festival da Canção (the Portuguese Sanremo, so to speak). This is an important element because I actually discovered them thanks to the Eurovision, in which they participate by virtue of their national triumph. After 33 tracks that to call lousy would be an insult to rubbish, 'Deslocado,' by NAPA, stood out. It should be noted that in that muddy mess, it didn't take much to make the song stand out, but that doesn't detract from the fact that it is indeed a beautiful song; it perfectly reflects the sentiment and style I look for in a song. Unfortunately, it is subsequent to the album this review is about, but we cannot ignore it, both for its beauty and because it is the latest piece of a band in the making that tends to improve with experience (comparing the first album with the second, 'Logo Se Vê').

But why did it hit me? Let's start from the assumption that I am a very devoted lover of Portugal in all its facets, the culture, the food, the saudade, the music... the NAPA have this fantastic inclination to somehow bring the folk tradition of Fado (more or less, let's say more for the topics they talk about than for the music, although I must say they very much recall the instrumental simplicity) to the eyes and ears of all Europe. I'm not saying, of course, that they have conquered Europe or even Portugal in the end, but some little enthusiast like me can greatly appreciate the stylistic and ideological choice behind the group: they actually had the ingenious idea of marrying Portuguese saudade with Indie Rock, a genre that in itself is very melancholic and subdued but at the same time very energetic, like a kind of rebellion from the world's weight that subdues them. I have to say... it's a combination that works really well, and combined with the typical theme of Fado, namely the love for one's land that somehow had to be left but is mourned every night by singing its praises, it creates something special. In the end, it's no different from Fontaines D.C. with Dublin and everything that comes with it, the theme is basically the same, just that expressing it with Gaelic Post Punk is different from the Portuguese saudade.

Regarding the album, I was undecided until the last moment whether to talk about 'Logo Se Vê' or 'Senso Comum' (the band's first album), and although it was supposed to be just an expedient to talk about 'Deslocado' and the band, I found myself with far more thoughts than I imagined.

Because it's true, I chose 'Logo Se Vê,' but 'Senso Comum' paves the way. Indeed, in the more recent one, the Indie Rock vein is slightly less felt than in the first one, where the energetic melancholic spirit emerges, it's as if over time they slightly returned to Portuguese tradition, abandoning the 'international model' and winking at Romantic Pop more than to the Indie Rock they are inspired by (reaching a perfect compromise with 'Deslocado,' which combines the two souls creating their unique personality, no longer inspiring from anyone).

The track that caught me off-guard on the album in question is 'Gigantes'... I mentioned it earlier, but I'm not sure if you're familiar with Fado... in short: they are folk songs composed of just voice, guitar, and Portuguese guitar, telling a love for one’s land imbued with overwhelming melancholy (not so different from popular songs of southern Italy, just less cheerful and carefree). Well, I always thought that Fado had potential for a larger audience and that the classic one was too folkloric, while its modern musical transpositions trivialized it excessively without conveying any emotion. In 'Gigantes,' after a long search, I found the right compromise suitable for my sensitivity. It is enriched compared to Fado, of course, raised on a fantastic piano melody (Gymnopédie style) cradled in a very orchestral arrangement of strings, over which the voices of NAPA's singer (João Guilherme) and Beatriz Pessoa gracefully and delicately hover, alternating like a fantastic colored braid, but captured in black and white by a Polaroid. This track represents their Romantic Pop soul, while the more Arctic Monkeys element of Indie Rock can be found in subsequent tracks like 'Todos Os Loucos' (percussion section very similar to 'Do Me a Favour' by the British), 'Monte De Nada,' and other tracks like 'Na Lua' from the first album 'Senso Comum.'

P.S. Imagine Arctic songs sung in PORTUGUESE, guys, it's fantastic... strange... but fantastic.

So, they are a very traditional group but with an eye on the larger audience, gradually evolving, finding that right compromise to honor their roots by giving them a different reading linked to the entire European musical 'senso comum.'

And in 2025, the third album is coming out...