Fado singer Carminho appears on the cover of the December edition of the British music publication “Songlines”, having covered her participation in “Pobres Criaturas”, a 2023 film by Yorgos Lanthimos that was partially shot in Lisbon.
In an interview with journalist April Clare Welsh, Carminho revealed that the Greek director challenged her to play Portuguese guitar in the film: “He didn’t want a man playing for Emma Stone, and he asked me to play for her myself. I asked him for a week to think about it and respond. I didn’t tell him I had never played guitar [portuguesa] in life”he said.
In the same interview, now availableCarminho spoke mainly about his new album, “Eu Vou Morrer de Amor ou Resistir”, released on October 10th. The album was inspired by pioneers of electronic and avant-garde music such as Wendy Carlos and Laurie Anderson, and can be part of the recent “new fado” movement, which combines traditional language with modern genres and ways of doing things.
“I think that’s fantastic, because you’re trying and testing new things,” he explained. “I firmly believe that fado is an instrument; fado is the language, it is not the speech. It is not the purpose, it is an initial tool, and with them you can create your own speech and your own formalization of what you think, what you believe in.”
The fado singer, remember, is one of the guests on “Lux”, Rosalía’s new album, which will be released this Friday. In 2026, Carminho will give two concerts, at the Coliseums in Lisbon and Porto, in May and June of next year.