Seven years after their last duo album, vocalist Sara Serpa and guitarist André Matos return with Night Birds. Due out September 29th, 2023 in CD and digital download on the Portuguese label Robalo Music, the duo’s third release captures and crystallizes their uncanny musical connection.

Serpa is widely acclaimed as one of the premier vocalists of her generation and was crowned the 2020 Vocalist of the Year by NPR. Matos has been praised as “one of the kings of melody..." by the New York Music Daily. Together, their music has been described as “decidedly otherworldly and totally original” (The Classical Arts) and “a perfect musical union” (O Público).

A collection of original compositions, improvisations and a Bartok bagatelle, the dozen tracks on Night Birds reflect on the fast-paced societies of the modern world, questioning the consumption and exploitation of natural ecosystems.

Serpa’s distinctive singing and Matos’ spectacular sonic landscapes are enhanced by original and creative artists in jazz and improvised music including Brooklyn-based pianist Dov Manski, South-Korean avant-garde cellist Okkyung Lee (John Zorn, Nels Cline, Chris Corsano, and Thurston Moore), Ethiopian-Swedish experimental vocalist Sofia Jernberg (Fire! Orchestra, Mette Rasmussen), Portuguese up-and-coming drummer João Pereira, and on two tracks, Serpa and Matos’ child Lourenço.

At turns magical, dazzling and calm, the duo’s unique sonic world draws on pure, contemplative sounds and takes a personal approach to melody and poetry. Their musical identity is informed by their Portuguese culture and the creative artistic environment of New York.

1. From a distance
2. Carlos
3. Melting ice (feat. Okkyung Lee)
4. Family
5. Night Birds (feat. Sofia Jernberg)
6. Counting
7. Underwater (feat. Sofia Jernberg)
8. Degrowth (feat. Sofia Jernberg, Okkyung Lee)
9. Bergman’s Island
10. Lost whale (feat. Okkyung Lee)
11. Watching you grow
12. Bagatelle, Op.6 Lento

On an album that is a huge testament to the ways in which Serpa and Matos have refined and developed their sound while exploring new dimensions of spontaneity, it opens on the celestially organic From a distance and the aromatically-hued Carlos, and then brings us the aching yearn found within Melting ice (featuring South Korean cellist Okkyung Lee), and then comes the harmoniously layered Family, the veritably cristalline Night Birds (featuring Swedish experimental singer, improviser, and composer Sofia Jernberg) and the more forthright Counting.

Along next is the otherworldly Underwater (featuring Sofia Jernberg) and the lushly harmonized Degrowth (featuring both Sofia Jernberg and Okkyung Lee), and they are in turn backed by the Latin-tinged, ghostly Bergman’s Island, then we get brought forth the empyreal feel of Lost whale (featuring Okkyung Lee), the album rounding out on the hallowed feel of Watching you grow, coming to a close on the stoically devotional Bagatelle, Op.6: Lento; a simply stunning interpretation of one of Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók’s best known works.

Across the album’s twelve tracks, Serpa and Matos employ unusual, diverse approaches to the voice-guitar relationship. The voice often takes on a background role, creating textures, grooves or ambiances while the guitar defines the melody or freely improvises. Adding more voices, piano, synth and cello expands the duo’s sonic palette, resulting in immersive and captivating musical moments that transcend language and barriers.

More than just a musical achievement, Night Birds addresses relevant, timely thematic concerns. “Much of this music reveals reflections on what family means for us, as immigrants and as New Yorkers, how parenting has changed our lives and how horrified we are about the overconsumption of resources and the destruction of the natural world,” Serpa explains. “How do we nurture this precious and fragile microcosmos of watching a child grow while we witness our planet’s destruction? What will be left for him?”

Bandcamp Purchase Link

www.saraserpa.com

www.serpamatos.com