Upping sticks and moving to a new country can be an overwhelming contradiction of conflicting emotions. I don’t say this with any personal experience but rather as the partner of an immigrant who did just that. It can leave someone in a perpetual state of longing to embrace every aspect of their new life with a vigorous enthusiasm while pining for everything that has been left behind with a consuming melancholy. This conflict can leave someone feeling as though they no longer have a place to truly call home, or it can leave the more fortunate feeling as though they now have two. Whatever the case may be, I tend to find the stories of people’s journeys and experiences to be fascinating and the debut album from
Nadedja, which chronicles her move from Piaui, Brazil to the North East of England, really delivers in this regard.
“Mama told me I have skin
To survive any drought
Piauí soil
Built me from the ground”
Blending Western rock and pop influences with Brazilian ones and soft, melodious acoustic tracks with soulful synth-pop ballads, Nadedja fuses various genres with her trademark powerful, stirring voice and contemplative lyrics. Daughter of the Equator Sky documents leaving her life in Brazil behind in favour of moving to the North East of England for love, her dog in tow, and learning to adjust culturally and societally to a quieter and calmer life. The album explores the ups and the downs of the journey; the challenges, the heartbreak, finding common ground between her homeland and her new, adopted home, and coming to accept and embrace both worlds.
There is an authenticity and a vulnerability in the autobiographical, personal style of her songwriting as well as a maturity and an artistic energy in her spirited and powerful delivery, both instrumentally and vocally. Always a powerhouse on stage, Nadedja has finally provided a full length record to match and it is, quite frankly, beautiful.
