Angola - Lulendo

Advantages: Uplifting and joyful
Disadvantages: For a debut album, it's hard to fault

...at an early age by hopping around the globe from Cuba to Angola, Senegal, Germany and more recently Paris where she has been based since 2003 and where Navega was recorded. On this delightfully poised debut album, the 23 year-old Mayra sings on all but one of the songs in a Cape Verdean Creole - a language derived from Portuguese. I didn't realise how different the language was until I looked at the strange text in which the lyrics are written. I had the unusual experience of being able to understand more her singing voice, but less able to decipher the written lyrics. There are translations into both English and French within the CD booklet, though after some study I have come to the conclusion that the English translation is not a good one. Nevertheless, there is enough to give you a good sense of the feel and subject matter of each song... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Music, lyrics, beat
Disadvantages: none

...an army on the march steadily inevitably getting nearer. When the Marley begins to sing, his words echo the feeling the listener has experienced “If you listen carefully now you will hear There's a natural mystic blowing through the air” This song more than any other on the record is a an anguished cry for understanding “Many more will have to suffer, Many more will have to die - don't ask me why” A comment of n the senseless violence that Marley saw around him in his own country where political divisions had seen the regular death of many young people, but also for other conflicts in the world in Angola and South Africa. In the same way that the song never really starts, fading in gradually it also never stops but just fades out as if it were being carried in the wind. The political theme is also clearly seen in the 4th track The Heathen... Read review

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