All of Ana Carolina’s women
Singer praises the feminine mood on her second CD, writes for the first time with songwriters like Adriana Calcanhotto and records a pop tune with Alcione
Rodrigo Faour
20/04/2001
Ana Carolina has accomplished the difficult task of pushing herself into a market that is complicated for quality music, and even more so if we take on account the dozens f female singers in search of a place under the sun. On board of hits like Garganta (Totonho Villeroy) and A Canção Tocou na Hora Errada (hers), she has won over FM stations and the public that goes for pop singers who bear a certain love-song tendency, such as Adriana Calcanhotto, Cássia Eller, Marisa Monte and Zélia Duncan. As if it wasn’t enough, she has sold more than 100 thousand copies of her debut CD (Ana Carolina, 1999). Now, she’s willing to establish herself for good in the pop MPB scene with the album Ana Rita Joana Iracema e Carolina (read the review and hear excerpts), which got its name from Chico Buarque’s muses and because it is essentially a feminine album.
"The title came up when the album was done. I was feeling very feminine and ended up putting my feminine universe into the album. For the first time, I wrote with other women, besides inviting [samba artist] Alcione to do a track with me. So the titles of all those Chico Buarque song’s kept popping up in my mind", Ana explains, referring to Anna de Amsterdam, A Rita, Joana Francesa, Iracema Voou and Carolina. All of these women’s moods are portrayed on tracks like Joana, Implicante, Dadivosa and, especially on Ela é Bamba. "That song is about women who go for it, mothers who educate a nation. It is about a crowd of women, the different faces of women in Brazil."
Divas and muses
The reference to Chico Buarque is not an accident. ON the previous CD, she had covered Retrato em Branco e Preto and Beatriz, on account of a "big influence" that the composer had on her music. "Chico has influence me a lot. I have covered many of his songs. ON this album, I haven’t recorded any, but I’ve mentioned him on the title, on the song Ela É Bamba and on the lyrics to Violão e Voz", Ana says, referring to the citation of Buarque’s Samba e Amor. And that track has an even more interesting feature: the presence of singer Alcione.
"When Violão e Voz was produced, I noticed it had acquired a contemporary beat (courtesy of bassist Dunga, who produced the album with Nilo Romero and Marcelo Sussekind), with electronica manifestations. I though it would sound curious to take Alcione away from her usual samba environment and place her on a different genre. She’s a great person, with a wonderful voice", she praises.
Another diva mentioned on the album is Maria Bethânia, with a text written by Antonio Bivar and read by Caetano Veloso’s sister during the concert Drama/Luz da Noite, from 1973. The text has been sampled and inserted into Dadivosa (written by Adriana Calcanhotto and Neusa Pinheiro). "That song is about divas and life. I included Bethânia to make the track nobler. She appears reciting a text. It was a good choice. Bethânia’s voice, speaking or singing, is always carried in emotion."
International feel
Ana says that her new album complements the first. "It brings different things, it is more mature. I was free to record it the way I wanted, just like on the first. My approach is still strong. I bet on this album as a whole, not on one single, and I don’t care if it going to sell more or less than the previous one", she emphasizes, rejecting the romantic-pop tag to her music. She prefers pop MPB. "I like pop MPB. There’s a lot of acoustic guitars, cello, tambourine and strings on my album... but it isn’t just pop. I’m a 25 year-old who lives MPB for people my age", she justifies.
Regardless of the international way that her album sounds, in fact there are a few Brazilian echoes, here and there, including the cover of the bolero Que Será (Marino Pinto/ Mário Rossi), recorded by Dalva de Oliveira about half a century ago. "My mom used to sing that one for me when I was little. I enjoy the challenge of covering well-known songs that will gain a new approach with me. Besides, it is one more feminine citation, it is good to remember the song that Dalva made eternal."
Restless
Ana Carolina’s references are not just musical, but also literary. The version of La Mia Storia Tra Le Dita, turned into Quem de Nós Dois (with Dudu Falcão) is already on the radio, and was based upon Roland Barthes’ book. The curious bluesy track Joana was written after Ana read Adélia Prado’s book, O Pelicano. "Barthes talks about things in that book that are common to everyone, in a simple manner, unpretentiously. Adélia sticks to small things, like toenails and priest’s costumes... she has this minimalist view on things, attentive to small details, and it has influenced my writing.
To finish, Ana has covered the striking Eu Nunca Te Amei, Idiota (Alvin L.), picked from the repertoire of the extinct rock band Sex Beatles. According to the singer, the track confronts many others on the CD. That’s why, she explains, the album could have been named differently. "I’m too restless. I like different things at the same time. I hate linear albums, books or films. The album sways through rhythms and songs because I enjoy things that move, and so I reckon they can go forward."
"The title came up when the album was done. I was feeling very feminine and ended up putting my feminine universe into the album. For the first time, I wrote with other women, besides inviting [samba artist] Alcione to do a track with me. So the titles of all those Chico Buarque song’s kept popping up in my mind", Ana explains, referring to Anna de Amsterdam, A Rita, Joana Francesa, Iracema Voou and Carolina. All of these women’s moods are portrayed on tracks like Joana, Implicante, Dadivosa and, especially on Ela é Bamba. "That song is about women who go for it, mothers who educate a nation. It is about a crowd of women, the different faces of women in Brazil."
Divas and muses
The reference to Chico Buarque is not an accident. ON the previous CD, she had covered Retrato em Branco e Preto and Beatriz, on account of a "big influence" that the composer had on her music. "Chico has influence me a lot. I have covered many of his songs. ON this album, I haven’t recorded any, but I’ve mentioned him on the title, on the song Ela É Bamba and on the lyrics to Violão e Voz", Ana says, referring to the citation of Buarque’s Samba e Amor. And that track has an even more interesting feature: the presence of singer Alcione.
"When Violão e Voz was produced, I noticed it had acquired a contemporary beat (courtesy of bassist Dunga, who produced the album with Nilo Romero and Marcelo Sussekind), with electronica manifestations. I though it would sound curious to take Alcione away from her usual samba environment and place her on a different genre. She’s a great person, with a wonderful voice", she praises.
Another diva mentioned on the album is Maria Bethânia, with a text written by Antonio Bivar and read by Caetano Veloso’s sister during the concert Drama/Luz da Noite, from 1973. The text has been sampled and inserted into Dadivosa (written by Adriana Calcanhotto and Neusa Pinheiro). "That song is about divas and life. I included Bethânia to make the track nobler. She appears reciting a text. It was a good choice. Bethânia’s voice, speaking or singing, is always carried in emotion."
International feel
Ana says that her new album complements the first. "It brings different things, it is more mature. I was free to record it the way I wanted, just like on the first. My approach is still strong. I bet on this album as a whole, not on one single, and I don’t care if it going to sell more or less than the previous one", she emphasizes, rejecting the romantic-pop tag to her music. She prefers pop MPB. "I like pop MPB. There’s a lot of acoustic guitars, cello, tambourine and strings on my album... but it isn’t just pop. I’m a 25 year-old who lives MPB for people my age", she justifies.
Regardless of the international way that her album sounds, in fact there are a few Brazilian echoes, here and there, including the cover of the bolero Que Será (Marino Pinto/ Mário Rossi), recorded by Dalva de Oliveira about half a century ago. "My mom used to sing that one for me when I was little. I enjoy the challenge of covering well-known songs that will gain a new approach with me. Besides, it is one more feminine citation, it is good to remember the song that Dalva made eternal."
Restless
Ana Carolina’s references are not just musical, but also literary. The version of La Mia Storia Tra Le Dita, turned into Quem de Nós Dois (with Dudu Falcão) is already on the radio, and was based upon Roland Barthes’ book. The curious bluesy track Joana was written after Ana read Adélia Prado’s book, O Pelicano. "Barthes talks about things in that book that are common to everyone, in a simple manner, unpretentiously. Adélia sticks to small things, like toenails and priest’s costumes... she has this minimalist view on things, attentive to small details, and it has influenced my writing.
To finish, Ana has covered the striking Eu Nunca Te Amei, Idiota (Alvin L.), picked from the repertoire of the extinct rock band Sex Beatles. According to the singer, the track confronts many others on the CD. That’s why, she explains, the album could have been named differently. "I’m too restless. I like different things at the same time. I hate linear albums, books or films. The album sways through rhythms and songs because I enjoy things that move, and so I reckon they can go forward."