Ana Moura
13th March 2025

The journey to Ana Moura’s seventh studio album, Casa Guilhermina, began with a pause. Having released six records in 12 years and toured extensively, the fadista had begun working on a new project, “but I realised that I didn’t have anything to say to people,” she says. “I went to the studio and I felt empty.”

Such burnout is understandable. Since the release of her debut album, 2003’s Guarda-me A Vida Na Mão, Ana has become one of Portugal’s biggest stars, selling over 1 million records around the world. Her fifth album, 2012’s Desfado, which was produced by Grammy Award-winning Joni Mitchell collaborator, Larry Klein, became the best-selling record of the 2010s by a local act, while her follow-up, 2015’s Moura, became the 4th best-selling album of all time in Portugal. Along the way, she has picked up fans in The Rolling Stones, with whom she has performed with, and was a close friend with Prince, visiting the singer at the iconic Paisley Park numerous times before his untimely passing (Prince even wrote a song “Dream of Fire”, which appeared on Moura).

Along with such success came years of touring. It was a whirlwind that Ana says was crazy. “I was so busy that I just couldn’t stop. I always have difficulties saying no to work stuff, so I went into the studio,” she recalls. “I had some songs but they weren’t written by me. They were written by other musicians that I really love, but I didn’t feel like they were about what it was that I wanted to say with my music.”

In the end, Ana put her foot down and everything stopped. At home in Portugal, she embarked on a journey of creative discovery that took her to the clubs and parties in Lisbon where she was introduced to younger musicians and producers, many who were merging the rhythms of Angola and Cape Verde with Portuguese soul. It was a sound the resonated with Ana. “My mum is Angolan and my father is Portuguese,” she says, “so this was my story, too. I grew up listening to Angolan music and I always felt very close to Angolan music, but I had never explored it myself.” She also discovered other soundscapes and sonorities during this time, as well as reconnected with other musicians from her past.