Lina is one of the most secure and interesting values of today’s Fado. Born in Trás-os-Montes, she studied and did theatre, sang opera and, one day, let fado pull her in. A resident singer at Lisbon mythical Clube do Fado, in Alfama, she has released albums Carolina (2014) and enCantado (2017), on Sony Music.
Artists always make their way with an eye to the future which is the treasure that is stored in their imaginations. Lina is like that. Fado gave her the initial push, taught her the importance of words, showed her the drama that melodies can contain and allowed her, in many nights of fado houses, to learn how to use her voice, without any tricks, to transmit all the emotions that the great classics of the genre demand.
In 2020, she released the album Lina_Raül Refree,on prestigious German Label, Glitterbeat,a collaboration between the fadista and the Catalan musician and producer Raül Refree, one of the most respected European producers today, producer of names such as Silvia Perez Cruz or Rosalía, among many others. Multi-award winning, this project that offers a reinterpretation of fado and Amalia’s repertoire based on voice, piano and synthesizers has received multiple European awards and received the highest praise from national and international media such as BBC, Les Inrocks, The Guardian and Pitchfork, Times, El Mundo,El País.
LINA is now proposing to tackle the poetry of Camões, one of the greatest references of Portuguese culture ever, as well as introducing herself as a composer in some of the songs. LINA has been distinguished in Portugal and internationally with multiple awards and nominations and has won the applause of some of the most demanding audiences in the world at various reference halls and festivals (tour). Now the Portuguese singer is working with Justin Adams, the accomplished British producer whose resumé includes close work with the legendary Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and productions for artists such as Rachid Taha, Tinariwen, Jah Wobble or the most recent album of Souad Massi.
Adams grew up in Egypt and that experience later led him to work with various artists exploring the connection between the blues and traditional paths of Maghrebian music. The influences of those particular African swings in fado are well documented and so the ideas Justin Adams brings to LINA may surprise music fans. In the studio, Pedro Viana’s guitar, which keeps the connection to the fado universe, is joined by the piano, keyboards and outstanding arrangements of John Baggott, musician and composer who has worked with artists such as Massive Attack or Portishead.
Once again LINA pursues her vision of reinventing the Portuguese soul music that UNESCO classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, introducing again a new edge to it. Fado Camões, LINA’s next album, is in its final stages of production, should be released in the last quarter of 2023 and taken on tour in a in yet another notable show from a musical and scenic point of view from a musical and scenic point of view from February 2024.