Lua Mincoff - Encontros

Lua Mincoff has been involved in the arts for over 20 years, but she only recently arrived in the digital world as a solo artist. That's why "Encontros," her debut album, has so much history to tell.

With eight tracks, six originals and two covers, "A Lua" by Renato Rocha of MPB4 and "Juvenar" by André Abujamra and Carneiro Sandalo of the band Karnak, "Encontros" features sonic references that blend Brazilian and Latin American musical genres. The lyrics offer a journey through personal and collective experiences, observed through the philosophical lens of Baruch Spinoza and his studies of affect, something that guides all of Lua's work.

"Spinoza always looked closely at encounters and affect from the perspective of the things that affect us. All relationships provoke affect, and all our encounters and disagreements affect our power to act, thus influencing the way we build relationships," she says.

"Novas Manias" is one of the new tracks that explains this relationship in practice. The song was created with stories from friends about the changes in their routine during the period of social isolation. The melody, with funky soul effects from guitar, keyboard, and vocals, moves between melodic and rhapsodic, illustrating the effects of these moments on people's lives.

"Good encounters are always a moment where we become closer to the world and to ourselves, expanding our capacity to affect and be affected," summarizes Lua.

One of these great encounters is marked in "Fermata," a song that tells the true love story between Lua Mincoff and Ricardo Bocci, her partner in music and life. The track features the iconic guitar of Manoel Cordeiro, one of the great Brazilian guitarists, and a horn trio bringing a touch of carimbó to the album.

"Fermata is a grand celebration of love, good encounters, and a whole beautiful web of affection in musical form! A lively, light, and loving song to dance, celebrate, and bring a much-needed breath of fresh air after such difficult times."

Before we can form a firm opinion of Lua Mincoff's work, she surprises with the Spanish-language track "De Vuelta al Mar" and the samba-choro "Quarta."

"De Vuelta al Mar begins contemplatively and takes on more frenetic and danceable tones, moving between the sonic universe of the Northeast and Balkan music. And Quarta has this samba-choro identity with a discreet Spanish touch à la Paco de Lucia," explains Lua Mincoff.

The intimate "Encontros," Lua's first composition for this album, and the delicate Afro-samba "Me Ouça Enquanto Ainda Estou Quente" round out this first original work.