Still, in April, Van Zee joined the Virgin Music Portugal crew, and in a few months the Madeiran artist found himself immersed in waters he had never before navigated.
It is true that this month invariably promises a thousand waters, but it was Sebastião “Van Zee” himself — which, translated from Dutch (a language he knows well thanks to his mother’s nationality), literally means “From the Sea” — who took the risk of standing up, after being welcomed into a home where that leap of faith was encouraged.
The result, not even half a dozen months later, is visible to everyone: not only is Van Zee, at this point, the face of the most listened-to playlist on Spotify in Portugal, but he also has seven songs (five of his own and one in which he participates as a guest artist) among the 200 most listened to on Spotify nationwide.
“Alma Nau” is the best-positioned theme, currently in 18th, followed by “Perto” in 97th; “Amar de Cor” in 125th; “Para Casa” in 129th; “underwater” by FRANKIEONTHEGUITAR in collaboration with Van Zee and Diogo Piçarra in 170º.
If a year ago Van Zee remained “trapped” on his own island, today the author of Aporia (2021) is already a sought-after artist on a continental scale, largely due to recent successes such as “Senti Tanto”, “Para Casa” or “Amar de Cor” — and also his participation in “underwater”, the first single from FRANKIEONTHEGUITAR’s debut album, THERE’s NO PLACE LIKE HOME, which also features the collaboration of Diogo Piçarra —, all of which were released by Virgin Music Portugal. “Alma Nua”, a song he released in 2022, is about to rise to the top 10 nationally.
This exponential success of his, however, has not been limited to streaming platforms, and proof of this is in the sea of people who waited, since 2 pm on July 14th, to see the Madeiran artist perform at “home” at 8 pm, at this year’s Summer Opening; or the huge school of festival-goers that washed up on the coast of O Sol da Caparica, at the beginning of August, when Van Zee took the stage — an immaculate debut at bigger festivals on this side of the Atlantic.
