Nancy Vieira's voice has been heard on practically every continent and in every corner of the world where this has happened, one thing has invariably happened: people fall into reverent silence every time her clear, direct voice tells us about the stories, dreams and desires, pains and joys of the people of the Cape Verde islands. Nancy's voice encompasses a country and the world that the diaspora has opened up. GENTE, their new album, follows on from Manhã Florida, which dates back to 2018, and reflects a remarkable artistic ambition. Firstly because it's a work that was conceived slowly, thought out, discussed and meticulously planned. And the title, in fact, reveals everything you need to know: it's a work of encounters, stories, ideas, balance sheets, but above all, of people. There are many people on this GENTE, an album that avoids the easy path of technological touches of modernity and prefers, in its apparent formal traditionalism, to promote the particular magic that only happens when people from different walks of life meet in the same space to share, play and sing their different stories. There's a lot of Cape Verde in this disc, or Nancy wouldn't have so often been referred to as the heir to Cesária Évora, one of her strongest muses. But on GENTE there is also that world that only exists in the streets of Lisbon and where you can hear the nuances of Brazil, echoes of so many other Africas and many Europes and Americas. There's morna and samba, fado and funaná, jazz-tinged sophistication and pop-minded adventure. There are PEOPLE. There is life. This is an album made now with tomorrow in mind. Yesterday only matters because it's what brought us all here. To this album and this music.
