English Version | Travelling back in time

As an artist, the discovery of new works and inspirations throughout one's life is imminent. Each work, unique in its origin, reflects a time and place and translates the emotions and experiences felt at that moment, revealing itself in a composition of notes. With the possibility of recognising, capturing and eternalising experiences, music transcends time and alludes to something higher, something that goes beyond reality, in a kind of sensory journey.

For Mayra Andrade, returning to past creations and rediscovering those same moments in time came naturally. In search of a certain comfort, the Cape Verdean singer, who has already published five works, one of which is also live, Studio 205, returns to her most elementary sound beginnings. With a life story that is defined by its vast multiculturalism - she was born in Cuba, grew up between Senegal, Angola and Germany and, mainly, Cape Verde, later moved to Paris to study and ended up settling in Lisbon - her melody is the result of this coexistence, with her sound aesthetic mirroring her experiences across borders.

Now, as she closes one and, of course, begins another chapter in her life with the recent arrival of her daughter, Andrade reveals a new interpretation of her art. In a conversation with Vogue Portugal, which ranges from her inspirations to the indispensable habits of Cape Verde, never leaving mystery aside, we discover more about the origin behind the singer's new album, reEncanto.

The reEncanto album revisits your repertoire in a more intimate way, where you are accompanied only by Djodje Almeida's guitar. What sparked the creation of this new project? And in what way does it mark a new stage, showing a personal and artistic evolution since your previous album, Manga?

reEncanto is a record out of time for me, it doesn't stick to a chronology in relation to the other records. It was born at a time when I was pregnant with my daughter, still promoting the previous album, and I felt a very deep need for an intimate, naked, barefoot, comfortable, cozy encounter with my audience. And I realised that the general public, after my career was properly launched, had never seen me in what is my original format, which is voice and guitar. Those who saw me starting out in Cape Verde when I was 14, 15, 16 saw me, but not after that, it was always bands and records. And I realised that I already had a path of compositions, between the first and fifth albums, which told a story, and I thought: why not bring together everything that was born out of me? Since I was pregnant, the idea was really to bring together the songs that had come from me, either alone or in partnership, and provoke people to go on a journey together.

As you begin a new chapter in your life, motherhood, you're in a different phase to when you first wrote these songs. How does that translate into the new album and the reinterpretation of your songs?

There are songs that I wrote just over 20 years ago, so it's a lifetime in itself. There have been many transformations, there is experience, there is maturity, there are scars, there are a number of things that make what the voice carries today very different from what it carried 20 years ago. I can hear that purer, more naïve thing. So, in itself, revisiting these songs, being re-enchanted, and singing them again was something very important to me in closing a cycle and opening a new one.

And the voice itself becomes more...

The voice itself is different. Motherhood comes on top of all this transformation that already happens naturally with life. I think it brings us a different depth, and I think that as singers, using one's voice means being in touch with feeling in the most intense way I've ever felt in my life, and I think that enriches my singing and that of any mother singer.

Manga was released in 2019. You've gone more than five years without releasing a new studio album. Why such a long break?

I still haven't released a studio album, as this is a live album. Why is that? Because I've never been in a hurry to release albums and so I have a rhythm that goes with my life, the things I experience and what I prioritise. The constant is that I'm always doing concerts and I'm very grateful to my audience who always allows me to have that window where I can open and sing, and share my art. The last few years have been almost like dying and being reborn over and over again, and these things need to settle down so that they can then be translated into new works and a new language. Whether in terms of poetry, melody or arrangement. So all this takes time, at least it takes me time.

Of course. And from this love of concerts comes this new album.

Exactly, reEncanto wasn't meant to be an album at all, it was just four concerts in 2022. I was pregnant, I didn't want to travel, I had the Manga tour, I'd done the contemporary dance piece Pantera. So I was very tired and I just wanted that moment, I just wanted that hug with the audience and to give myself naked, so to speak. It just had a very strong impact and we said, "Why not go on tour in 2023?". And we did 15 more [concerts] and at the end of those 15 we said, "why not record one of the last concerts, just in case?". And that was it, 2024: 20 more concerts. And going back to that material we recorded in a church that has phenomenal acoustics, it's a magical thing, the Union Chapel, what happened there was a record. We went in there to do the sound check and there was an energy, something that said "what's going to happen here today is going to be unique, it's going to be special" and indeed it was. Not all concerts are the same, in fact they're all different, not all are special, but this was one of them and it was lucky because it could have been recorded on a day when things didn't go so well... when inspiration wasn't so present.

With more than 40 concerts around the world, how do you feel the reEncanto album has been received by different audiences?

Very well, it's more than well... I think people don't really know what to expect. They know that it's something intimate, that it's something with voice and guitar, but the beautiful thing is that when the stars align, I think everyone is transported on the same ship. There's a sharing of a very real, very palpable emotion that goes beyond language, because a lot of people don't understand the songs, but they leave crying or happy. I've never had such sincere feedback from people, and I think I've always had an incredible audience. But I think people see a lot of truth here that they actually need. Music has become too much entertainment, too disposable, too much following trends and, every now and then, a sigh, a suspension in time and to say, beyond everything that we like and embrace and use as a tool, that there is the essence, the purity of what music is. And here it is and I give it to you, now it's yours.

Why did you choose the guitar as the only instrument to accompany your voice in reEncanto?

The guitar is the queen instrument, so to speak, to not say king. It's the timbre that accompanies traditional Cape Verdean music, it's the instrument I used to compose these songs, it's an instrument that offers many possibilities in rhythmic terms, but also harmonically, especially when you have the right partner. In my case, Djodje was an incredible choice, I think it was also a moment of inspiration for me to invite him and sharing the stage with him has been incredible.

With a very multicultural childhood, how is your music and sound influenced? And how do these cultures blend into your art?

The different influences I've had throughout my life have conditioned the person I am. This is a question I've been asked for many years, because I really have a very nomadic background, but the answer hasn't really changed, it's always the same. It's the way I look at the world, the way I consume life, the way I embrace the world, the way I celebrate differences and cultures, all of which has a huge impact on my creative freedom and enriches me. Lucky me.

I believe that homesickness is always present wherever you go. What habits from Cape Verde do you bring to Portugal?

The cuisine, without a doubt. There are those things you can't go too long without eating, like a good cachupa. Music, because I also play music at home, and now with my daughter I like to play classic Cape Verdean music that I heard my parents listen to when I was little. A form of solidarity too, between people, a great ability to always have room for one more, and to welcome and receive. And I think there's a lot that's similar here, but Creole has its own way of being and that's always in us.

To feel at home, where can you find a truly Cape Verdean gastronomic experience in Lisbon? Or is this an art that you think is best reproduced within your own four walls?

I'm not a great expert on Cape Verdean restaurants in Lisbon because I eat Cape Verdean food at home, or at my grandmother's house, or at someone's grandmother's house. And when you've grown up there, you're very critical, there's always something missing or not. So I'm not going to give any references, at least for now, I don't have a reference.

It's a very personal thing...

But look, I'm lying! I'm going to give you a reference, because the last time I ate cachupa there it was very good, which was at the Cape Verde cultural centre in Rato.

The theme of this month's Vogue is mystery. How does mystery play a role in the lead-up to an album release?

We definitely use mystery as something to increase desire. So you don't reveal everything at once, it's a snippet here, a photo there, a little video, just a few seconds, with the expectation that this will grow with people's desire to consume the album. I think mystery and passion work very well together, and the idea of using mystery when releasing an album is that people arrive at the album already very much in love.

With regard to the creative process, do you usually have a more methodical approach, with a well-defined vision, or do you let the creative process be a mystery that you unravel over time and discover naturally?

Yes, it's more the second option. In other words, I don't have a very methodical way of constructing an album, at least initially, because I want to understand where life is taking me, what my guides are telling me, how my subconscious is going to translate an experience I've had into music. So there can't be too much editing, there can't be too many limits, at least for me. It's about letting yourself be carried away by the waves, and at some point you manage to rise up and realise, this is the direction, and then some method and formulas come into play to get where you need to go. But the creative part itself, in my case, is anything but methodical, and I'd even like to be a little more disciplined and have more writing routines, but so far I think it has been working.

It's a process that, in a way, appears throughout life…

Yes, it sprouts. Because I make a lot of music for myself, it's a very... very intimate process, very personal, not to say selfish. And because I make music for myself, it's music that ends up being very sincere and therefore speaks to people's hearts. But I also have to be the actress in my own film, I can't just be a director. I have to be in the eye of the hurricane, living, feeling, dying, being reborn, and that's not something we control, it's something we live, that we are. And then, at some point, it takes shape and becomes a record.

When it comes to the reEncanto album, is there any mystery or do you feel it's quite vulnerable and, in a way, an open book?

I think there's a very mysterious component to the album. Firstly, the place where it was recorded, that chapel, is something very magical, and I think that within magic there is always mystery. Then, anyone who knows me and who knows what my most profound and transformative experiences have been over the last two years can hear beyond what I'm saying with words. Meaning, there's a kind of hidden message that only those who are very sensitive or know me very well can unveil. So there's a mysterious component to the record, because it goes beyond what the story is telling, it's a human being who has changed and who is also telling us about where they're going and what they're feeling, perhaps in a more timid way. I don't know if mysterious, but more timid.

As reEncanto is a work that revisits themes you've already released, when will you have a new album of originals? Are you already working on it? And if so, what can you share with Vogue about it?

Mystery...!

Very on theme! But there's nothing for the future?

I'm already in my creative process, I can already tell... It's like those women who have had three children and when they get pregnant they already know they're pregnant, I'm like that. I already know I'm pregnant.

You can already feel the symptoms of what's to come.

I'm already feeling symptoms of the pulsating creativity that catches me anywhere. I'm already recording ideas. I've also got songs that I've already started and that I want to go back and finish and see what's left, what's going to happen. But I feel it will probably be my best studio album.