Release date: 10 June 2016
Record label: RED ORANGE Recordings
Catalogue number: RED1602CD, RED1602LP, RED1602DL
Barcodes: CD Digipak: 0088234590139, Vinyl LP: 0088234590146, Download: 0088234590153
FILE UNDER: World Music / Portugal / Fado

Claudia Aurora: voice Javier Moreno: acoustic guitar Kate Shortt: cello Jon Short: double bass Pavlos Carvalho: bouzouki Bernardo Couto: Portuguese guitar João Barradas: accordion

Tracklist

01.	Mulher do Norte | Woman of the North	3:23
02.	Poema | Poem	3:29
03.	Amar | To Love	4:11
04.	Fado florido | Flowered fado	2:30
05.	Mãos de luar | Moonlit hands	4:04
06.	Filha das ervas | Daughter of the herbs	2:16
07.	Amantes | Lovers	4:39
08.	A tua ausência | Your absence	4:57
09.	Soberano destino | Sovereign destiny	5:35
10.	Havemos de ir a Viana | We shall go to Viana	3:01
11.	Promessa | Promise	4:25
12.	Lua | Moon	6:04

All songs written by Claudia Aurora and Javier Moreno except “Poema” (Fernando Dias), “Amar” (Florbela Espanca/Javier Moreno), “Filha das ervas” (Amália Rodrigues/Carlos Gonçalves), “Havemos de ir a Viana” (Pedro Homem de Mello/Alain Oulman).

Music arrangements by Javier Moreno

Produced by Ricardo Cruz
Co-produced by Fernando Nunes
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Fernando Nunes between August 2105-January 2106
Instruments recorded at Musibéria Studio, Alentejo, Portugal
Voice recorded, mixed and mastered at Estúdios Pé de Vento, Salvaterra de Magos, Portugal

Artwork by Espanta Espíritos Design
Photos by Orlando Gonçalves

English translation by Nina Martin
Jewelry by António Gonçalves

Executive producer: Miguel Santos (Red Orange Arts Agency)

I would like to thank my family, my close friends and inspiring singers from all over the world, all fellow musicians, Miguel Santos, Ni, Emma, Lara, Nana, Fena, Jade, Nina, Mariana Faria, Julian Owen, Simon Fry, Tanamara, Café Barcelona team and all who supported and inspired me to follow my musical path.

www.claudia-aurora.com

Management and bookings: Miguel Santos | miguel.santos@redorange.org.uk | www.redorange.org.uk

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Sometimes, you see a place most clearly when it recedes from view…

Claudia Aurora’s second album, Mulher do Norte, translates from Portuguese as Woman of the North. Written with a clarity that only distance can allow, it is a homage to the city, the surrounds, the way of living, that helped make her the woman she is. To all that she left behind.

It was 2003 when Claudia Aurora swapped her beloved Porto for Bristol. Little did she know that what she began singing in the kitchen as an antidote to homesickness would take her to some of the biggest stages in the world.

She sung fado. Traditional Portuguese folk songs once sung by her grandmother. In time, she wrote her own. Impassioned songs of loss, love, longing. In short, songs of saudade, the emotion at the very core of fado, perhaps best translated as ‘the love that remains after something is gone’. A lover. A comrade. A place.

“People don’t understand what I’m singing,” says Claudia, “so I try to make them feel what I want them to feel. Onstage, my heart is in my mouth, and I think maybe people will see it beating.”

If people didn’t see Claudia’s heart, they certainly heard it. With her first album only a few months old, she was a relative unknown before she played the BBC Radio 3 stage at WOMAD in 2012, yet the reaction to her set ensured Silêncio’s sales were seventh highest of the entire festival. Impressed, Radio 3 later broadcast Claudia performing live from the Royal Festival Hall. Further broadcasts followed.

Claudia has since made London her base, gone on to play shows in countries as far-flung as Poland and South Korea, completed the UK’s biggest tour ever undertaken by a fado singer, and been awarded a residency at Green Note, Time Out’s London Venue of the Year 2015.

When it came to recording the new album, Claudia took her team of crack musicians back to the mother country, and the tranquility of Alentejo. Guitars, double bass, cello, bouzouki, accordion, all combining to create fado as it has never been heard before. Fado with arms open wide, embracing those other grand old traditions of the Iberian Peninsula: flamenco, tango, gypsy.

And above it all, Claudia’s voice. Like other voices, it is redolent of personal sadness. Yet it is evocative of so much more. Just as surely as fado is handed down through the ages, then so are the sentiments of which it speaks. Twelve songs evoking a collective folk memory of all the love and loss that went before.

Twelve songs sung with a voice as poised as it is fervent. The emotion Claudia communicates is not blue, necessarily, but visceral. A melancholic ecstasy. A life forever lived, no matter where her home, as a Mulher do Norte.

Julian Owen

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“Thank you SO much for Claudia Aurora CD. On 2nd non-stop listen. Really rich and still crystal clear. Love how honest and all woman she is. Entirely her own woman. Lovely instrumentation and brilliant production/mastering!” (Debbie Golt, UK)

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“A lovely album” (Mark Coles, The Shed, UK)

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“It’s a stunning and crystal clear album with a true female sensibility. I love it.” (Debbie Golt, Resonance FM, UK)

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“Intriguing and lovely lovely singer” (DJ Ritu, A World In London, UK)

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“Classy” (Neil Spencer, The Guardian, UK)

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“This second album confirms the promise of her debut, Silêncio.” (Neil Spencer, The Guardian, UK)

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“Tingling beauty” (Simon Broughton, Evening Standard, UK) (Album of the Week) (4 stars)

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“(Claudia) Aurora takes advantage of a colourful instrumentation – with an almost chamber-like instrumentation – to close in on a classical French chanson and blur her fado into something else, nuanced by the great Edith Piaf.” (Gonçalo Frota, Songlines, UK)

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“You’re in for a treat” (Debra Davis, UK)

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“Smart, café-tinged contemporary chamber fado rendering.” (fRoots, UK)

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“Claudia Aurora​’s album Mulher do Norte (Red Orange Recordings​) is the first bit of fado to blow me away since… well I can’t remember when. I often find the Portuguese blues a bit too overblown and melodramatic for my tastes. But this is altogether a classier affair, beautifully sung (Ms Aurora is blessed with serious vocal chops, but never over-eggs the pudding), lovely spare but imaginative arrangements, all put into service for a fine set of songs. One of those rare albums where every track makes you sit up and take notice. “All killer, no filler” is, I believe, the phrase.” (Jamie Renton, fRoots, UK)

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“You may not see her beating heart but you will certainly hear it.” (Simon Rowland, R2 (Rock’n’Reel) Magazine, UK)

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“Un modo nuovo e originale di rinnovare la tradizione, con rispetto e gusto, fanno di Claudia Aurora una voce importante e vitale da custodire gelosamente al fianco di Teresa Salgado, Mariza e Dulce Pontes.” (Argonauta Magazine, Italy)

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“Every song is a winner, every arrangement full of thought and energy, and Claudia’s voice is majestic throughout. This is modern Fado at its finest – if you have yet to discover this remarkable music, Mulher do Norte would be as good a place as any to start, and better than most!” (Barry Goodman, ShireFolk, UK)

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“A heartfelt song… a talent developed in exile…” (Mary Ann Kennedy, BBC Radio 3, UK)

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“Utterly beautiful” (Chris Nickson, Stirrings, UK)

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“A gem of an album” (musicdeli, UK)

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“Claudia Aurora’s incredible voice has me in tears every time. Talented, beautiful, super-creative lady.” (Emma Landolt, UK)

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“Exquisitely beautiful” (musicdeli, UK)

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“A breath of fresh air. An impressive album.” (Rhythm Passport, UK)