Rodrigo Leão O Rapaz Da Montanha

Portuguese composer Rodrigo Leão presents his new album as beautiful testimony to his remarkable career, his restlessness and curiosity.

The name of composer Rodrigo Leão has long been familiar. First in Portugal, with the band Sétima Legião. Then, as part of another innovative project, Madredeus, his art crossed borders. When his first album under his own name (Ave Mundi Luminar) came out in 1993, he immediately realised that his music belonged to the world, and this has been confirmed throughout a career that already boasts a considerable discography, which also includes soundtracks and collaborations with big names such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), Beth Gibbons (Portishead) or Michelle Gurevich, to name but a few.

Now, thirty-two years after his debut as a solo musician, comes O Rapaz da Montanha, and there's no avoiding the adjective: Rodrigo Leão's new disc is surprising, both in musical terms and even in terms of the composer's career. He himself recognises this: 'It was an unexpected record. I've had it in my head for three years and I've been building it in a very focussed way, in a different way to my previous albums, in which the composition came out without any specific time or intention. And now that it's finished, I think it's the most Portuguese album I've made to date.' This notion of identity is true: it runs through several of the composer's discs and is visible in the compilation Os Portugueses (2018). And indeed, this new disc could fit into that identity, which in one way or another has always been present in Leão's work.

It would be wrong to say that O Rapaz da Montanha represents a revolution in Rodrigo Leão's musical universe. Rather, it's a consequent evolution, which even though it brings changes, doesn't abandon a millimetre of the composer's musical identity. With an already long and remarkable career, restlessness and curiosity remain alive in Rodrigo Leão. This O Rapaz da Montanha is further beautiful proof. It's up to us to listen and be grateful.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

O Labirinto Cadeira Preta O Rapaz da Montanha Já sabia Exercícios Guarda-te Interlúdio Andava eu...

Disc 2:

Afronto Estranho Imperfeito Valsa Espiral Madrugada Esperança O Guardador Lobos do Mar Vento sem Fim