“Crónica do maxo discreto” is the new single by Fado Bicha, a duo formed by Lila Fadista and João Caçador, and will be released on the 13th of May on all digital platforms, and is already in pre-save here.
The video is unveiled on the same day: it was directed by Marcelo Pereira and Pedro Maia and starring Lila, João and Hugo van der Ding, comedian and presenter of the radio program Manhãs da 3. In addition to this participation, the video also features Alice Azevedo and Carmo Gê Pereira, LGBTI activists and friends of the duo.
“Crónica do maxo discreto” is a song that the duo has been singing since 2017, with a poem that Lila wrote for the fado melody “Nem aos Paredes confesso”. When the composer’s heirs did not authorize his recording, the duo decided to compose a new melody, ending up embracing the direct reference to the icon António Variações, in a pop record that refers to the eighties, with production by Luís Clara Gomes (in the world of the music better known as Moullinex).
“The poem almost made itself“, says the band, with lots of sarcasm in the mix. Sung in the first person, it tells the story of a very different person from Lila, with repressed desires and living in secret and tension, with a background heterosexual relationship – “who I like is my girlfriend“. Lila and João admit that the song is intended to be “an act of gender terrorism, which can sow seeds of doubt in all heterosexual couples, in the order contribute to the destruction of the traditional family… Just kidding!” Will be?
The band was inspired by several iconic queer artists of the 20th century to come up with the music video. The character Frank ‘n Furter, from the movie “Rocky Horror Picture Show“, the shock artists Leigh Bowery and Divine, the singer Klaus Nomi were direct references in the creation of an aesthetic of queer monstrosity, and in the video for “Crónica do maxo discreto“, it is the creatures (the fags) who create the human (the discreet male), with whom they later share several moments in an anonymous sex place near Lisbon. The video intends to blend symbologies of the various ways queer people relate to hegemonic masculinity – desiring it, envying it, ridiculing it, hating it.
This single anticipates “OCUPAÇÃO”, the long-awaited debut album by Fado Bicha, produced by Luís Clara Gomes (Moullinex), who promises not to leave anything unsaid or sung. It is released on digital platforms on June 3rd and later – on a date to be confirmed – on vinyl.
Who are Fado Bicha?
Assuming itself as a musical, performative and activist project, Fado Bicha was created in 2017 by Lila Fadista, voice and lyrics, and João Caçador, in composition and instruments. Starting from fado as a working tool, Lila and João freely explore this musical heritage, overcoming some of the rigid barriers of traditional fado, and challenging heteronormativity, gender binarism and the erasure of the stories, memories and contributions of LGBTI and queer in Portugal.
Summoning other voices, bodies and narratives, Fado Bicha is a proudly interventional project, which starts from the queer identities of Lila and João, and from their involvement in the media, themes and activists’ urgencies that seek diversity, belonging and representation. Since 2007, they have given more than 200 concerts in 8 countries, released three singles, an EP in 2021, participated in theatre, cinema and television, and also competed for the 2022 edition of the Song Festival, with the theme “Povo pequenino”.
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