Sétimo Fado

For an artist still only in her late 20s, it’s a remarkable achieve¬ment to be releasing a seventh album. The album offers a generous helping of songs old and new, including two composed by the fadista herself. And her singing seems as confident as ever: her voice full of the dusky warmth of classic fado, her phrasing exquisitely shaped.

One gripe, however, is Amendoeira’s predilection for eccentric instrumental combinations. In many tracks the usual guitars and double bass are joined by piano and cello. Yet the sustained tones of the latter pair do not gel well with the timbre of the plucked instruments. At times, the piano even affects the feel of lounge jazz, which really jars with the heartfelt longing of the singing. The effect of the cello is even worse. Sometimes it seems to do nothing other than ruminate self-indulgently on the more sentimental phrases of the song, muddying the bright sound of the guitars and compromising Amendoeira’s wonderfully clear diction.

But there’s versatility in abundance here. ‘Fado Para a Minha Mae’ is sung in hushed tones, focusing attention on the percussive qualities of the words. ‘As Quatro Operações’, with its accordion accompaniment and stamped-out rhythms, sounds almost like a kind of Portuguese morris dancing (which, indeed, is often held to derive from Moorish roots).