A new album titled “Um quarto na rua cor-de-rosa,” set for release on Thursday, marks “a sort of closure of the previous cycle” for the band that emerged in 2010 in Lisbon’s Cais do Sodré area, according to saxophonist João Cabrita.
During the previous cycle, the lead vocalist was Silk Nobre, who decided to pursue a solo career, and the band’s lyrics were in English.
About three years ago, NBC joined the band, switching the lyrics to Portuguese. Cabrita explained the change, stating, “We didn’t want to fall into the routine of making a fourth album similar to the first ones, we wanted to be more challenged.”
“When I started composing the album, I already had half of the songs composed with lyrics in English. Then our keyboardist, João Gomes, asked, ‘Why don’t we try doing it in Portuguese?'” Cabrita recalled.
Throughout the band’s career, there had been attempts to write lyrics in Portuguese, but they hadn’t found “the right style that would work musically.”
The addition of NBC, who has a “super-consolidated career singing in Portuguese and a natural way of singing,” provided what was missing.
“He gave a big push. He took some of the lyrics that were already made and adapted them to Portuguese and contributed others. We ended up developing together with him a band ‘dialect’ in Portuguese,” the musician said.
With the change of vocalist, the band’s energy shifted, “naturally, because Silk has a different energy, both in concerts and on the album, than NBC does.”
This energy can be witnessed live at the album launch concert scheduled for October 22 at Casa Capitão in Lisbon.
The new venue, which opened on September 19 in the Beato area, is managed by the team behind Musicbox in Cais Sodré, which closed on September 15.
“We close the whole cycle. We started at Musicbox, and now we arrive at the new Musicbox,” said Cabrita.
On that day, they will present a new concert with new themes. “From September 25 [Thursday], you can listen to the album, and a month later, dance with us,” challenged the musician.
In addition to being available on digital platforms, the album, composed of ten tracks, will be released on CD and vinyl, available for purchase at the concert and through the band’s accounts on the Bandcamp platform and social media.
Cais Sodré Funk Connection includes João Cabrita, NBC, João Gomes, Tamin, David Pessoa, Francisco Rebelo, and Rui Alves.
The group released their first album, “You are somebody,” in 2012, followed by “Soul, Sweat & Cut the Crap” in 2016, and “Back on track” in 2019.
