The restlessness that José Mário Branco sang about is a state of mind that encourages or afflicts, especially, artists.
Perhaps because art reflects life and the world more acutely, perhaps because artists live committed to transformation, evolution and the permanent search for freedom. This is, naturally, the case of Gisela João, a full-bodied artist who feels life in her voice, in that deep tone, scratched by bitterness and rounded by the love that we know so well about her and that elevated her to the cult status that she rightly enjoys.
In 2025, after the signs released “A Morte Saiu à Rua” and “Vejam Bem”, two singles in which she addressed the perennial songbook of Zeca Afonso, Gisela João now presents INQUIETA, released by MAR Records and distributed by Universal Music, a work that follows Aurora (2022) and with which she celebrates the spirit of April, fully surrendering herself to a set of historical songs that touch her deeply.
Gisela João became famous as a unique voice, which seemed to have arrived in fado from the depths of our dreams, exactly a dozen years ago. With a positioning that was as original as it was honest, he knew how to respect tradition while embracing the future with equal fervour. She gave voice to old fados and new authors, broke with dogmas and made it clear, in her debut with Gisela João, and in subsequent records such as Sem Filtro (2014) or Nua (2016) – and perhaps, above all, in the countless stages she stepped on – that she was capable of following straight, with her artistic visions and convictions as unique arguments, oblivious to trends or passing fashion dictates. Gisela João is different because she embraces this restlessness that forces artists to be honest with themselves.
Lineup
Death Came Out Into The Streets
That Love Does Not Fool Me
What Force is This, Friend?
And After Goodbye
The Brave
Wake up
Restlessness
Autumn Ballad
Lullaby
Look Well
And so 2025 arrives. In INQUIETA, Gisela João sings a carefully selected repertoire: Zeca Afonso from “A Morte Saiu à Rua”, “Vejam Bem”, “Que o Amor Não Me Engana”, “Balada de Outono”, “Canção de Embalar” and “Os Bravos” (a theme to which Tonicha also sang) is the greatest inspiration for this new work. Gisela considers Zeca a master in the art of interweaving words and melodies, a remarkable influence and a haven to which one can always return. And a milestone in our history of fighting for freedom.
But there are other masters chosen for this alignment. First José Mário Branco, the man who sang “Inquietação” like no one else, the same song that Gisela now gives herself over to in such a touching way. And there is “E Depois do Adeus”, the famous password of a revolution that immortalized Paulo de Carvalho; “Que Força é Essa, Amiga”, the pertinent reinvention of the classic by Sérgio Godinho by this other libertarian voice that is Capicua, companion in so many of Gisela’s other struggles. There is also a breathtaking version of “Acordai“, the anthem by Fernando Lopes-Graça, which so well translated this awakening to a new time, which took so long, but inevitably happened.
Co-produced by Gisela João and Luís “Twins” Pereira at Twinville Studios, in Carcavelos, and with arrangements to which guitarist Carlos Rodenas Martinez also gave his particular and special touch, INQUIETA places Gisela’s voice in the centre, giving it the right light in each of the themes, showing it with all its noble grain, with the marks of a deep emotion that lives permanently in her throat. Around it, guitars, pianos and atmospheres glide without imposing themselves, respecting the unique melodic and harmonic beauty of each of the themes, but also taking them to new places, in a sophisticated balance between respect for the originals and the artistic restlessness that drives the search for new paths. This can be felt, for example, in the electric nerve that “Que Força é Essa, Amiga” is dressed in, which so well translates the blunt portrait of the female condition drawn by Capicua based on a classic by Sérgio Godinho.
In these songs, Gisela loses herself and finds herself, always with freedom, the most precious of possessions, as a beacon. Gisela João is a INQUIETA artist. And for that reason alone it deserves our full attention.
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