5.8.26

Pedro Ricardo - Oxalá Cante com Tempo (Hear, Sense And Feel)

representing a new work from Pedro Ricardo

‍

For the follow-up to his 2023 debut album Soprem Bons Ventos (Soundway Records), Pedro Ricardo wanted to really write. Where previously scant lyrics would come to him by chance - words improvised to wrap around a beat - this project began among the pages of Portuguese poets like Ary dos Santos, then moved to pen and paper as Ricardo determined to try his hand at songwriting proper. "I've never really connected to poetry before," Ricardo admits. "But I felt the need for it this time."

‍
Musically, Ricardo draws inspiration from the Brazilian universe of singer-songwriting. He temporarily relocated to Rio de Janeiro in early 2025 with the first part of the project already complete and the early writings and melodies of the second taking shape - ears wide open to what the city might teach him. "For the first three months, it was just me and a guitar," Ricardo recalls. "For the next three, it was me on the road overnight in bone-chilling buses, substituting sleep with the same albums on loop - Francis Hime's self-titled, Edu Lobo's Missa Breve and, as always, José Mário Branco's Mudam-se os Tempos Mudam-se as Vontades." These deep lessons in self-expression through song, in composing and arranging, proved transformative.

‍
And so this time, for the first time, Pedro Ricardo truly wrote - not just for voice, but for flutes and strings. He wrote for others to interpret: cellist Carolina Viana, flautists Gil Silva and Edu Moreno, and celebrated fado and música popular portuguesa singers António Zambujo and Ana Margarida Prado. In turn, he reinterpreted their offerings through the signature electronic touches that run through all of Ricardo's productions.

‍
The opening track, "Sem Caminhar Eu Vou," was the first song Ricardo wrote with guitar and lyrics together. "It's about being in two minds in love," he explains. "I was lucky to have one of the best voices of modern Portuguese music on this - António Zambujo. We recorded really quickly in my friend Fred's studio, then later I wrote the flutes which my friend Edu Moreno from São Paulo recorded. Later I decided to give the arrangement a bit more of an electronic direction - even though this wasn't my intention at the start when I was writing the songs, it's just something that always comes back to me naturally during the production process."
‍

"Oxalá Cante com Tempo" speaks to the passage of time itself. "This song is about not having enough time, about coming to the realisation that time will stop," Ricardo says. He finished the lyrics the night before the studio session with Ana Margarida Prado, inspired by a documentary about Chico Buarque's recording process and the spontaneity of musicians reacting to new material in the moment. Originally written on guitar, the arrangement became dramatically expansive - the vinyl includes a drum mix to keep things playful.

‍
The result is a stirring yet instantly familiar collection that confronts head-on the means and motifs alluded to in Ricardo's earlier work - fusing jazz, electronica and Brazilian and Portuguese música popular - but in a way that urges the artist ever forward. Released as a double 7" vinyl through Ricardo's own label Hear, Sense and Feel, with covers by São Paulo-based artist Allan Gandhi, the project serves as a prelude to Ricardo's second album as he continues building on these experiments in songwriting and spatial arranging.

‍
"These are Portuguese songs for people who like warm melodies and weird electronics," Ricardo reflects. "I tried my best to write beautiful songs that my grandmother could listen to. My hope for these songs is that they last and people can return to them." Even the emotional depths surprised him: "It's funny, even though these songs are mainly love songs, and they came to me really strong, I often laugh when I sing them because I still can't really understand such sadness coming out of me. Though I am Portuguese and I guess saudade is in our bones." As his song goes, oxalá cante com tempo - hopefully there will be time to sing.

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Pedro Ricardo - Oxalá Cante com Tempo

Pedro Ricardo - Oxalá Cante com Tempo (Hear, Sense And Feel)

representing a new work from Pedro Ricardo

‍

For the follow-up to his 2023 debut album Soprem Bons Ventos (Soundway Records), Pedro Ricardo wanted to really write. Where previously scant lyrics would come to him by chance - words improvised to wrap around a beat - this project began among the pages of Portuguese poets like Ary dos Santos, then moved to pen and paper as Ricardo determined to try his hand at songwriting proper. "I've never really connected to poetry before," Ricardo admits. "But I felt the need for it this time."

‍
Musically, Ricardo draws inspiration from the Brazilian universe of singer-songwriting. He temporarily relocated to Rio de Janeiro in early 2025 with the first part of the project already complete and the early writings and melodies of the second taking shape - ears wide open to what the city might teach him. "For the first three months, it was just me and a guitar," Ricardo recalls. "For the next three, it was me on the road overnight in bone-chilling buses, substituting sleep with the same albums on loop - Francis Hime's self-titled, Edu Lobo's Missa Breve and, as always, José Mário Branco's Mudam-se os Tempos Mudam-se as Vontades." These deep lessons in self-expression through song, in composing and arranging, proved transformative.

‍
And so this time, for the first time, Pedro Ricardo truly wrote - not just for voice, but for flutes and strings. He wrote for others to interpret: cellist Carolina Viana, flautists Gil Silva and Edu Moreno, and celebrated fado and música popular portuguesa singers António Zambujo and Ana Margarida Prado. In turn, he reinterpreted their offerings through the signature electronic touches that run through all of Ricardo's productions.

‍
The opening track, "Sem Caminhar Eu Vou," was the first song Ricardo wrote with guitar and lyrics together. "It's about being in two minds in love," he explains. "I was lucky to have one of the best voices of modern Portuguese music on this - António Zambujo. We recorded really quickly in my friend Fred's studio, then later I wrote the flutes which my friend Edu Moreno from São Paulo recorded. Later I decided to give the arrangement a bit more of an electronic direction - even though this wasn't my intention at the start when I was writing the songs, it's just something that always comes back to me naturally during the production process."
‍

"Oxalá Cante com Tempo" speaks to the passage of time itself. "This song is about not having enough time, about coming to the realisation that time will stop," Ricardo says. He finished the lyrics the night before the studio session with Ana Margarida Prado, inspired by a documentary about Chico Buarque's recording process and the spontaneity of musicians reacting to new material in the moment. Originally written on guitar, the arrangement became dramatically expansive - the vinyl includes a drum mix to keep things playful.

‍
The result is a stirring yet instantly familiar collection that confronts head-on the means and motifs alluded to in Ricardo's earlier work - fusing jazz, electronica and Brazilian and Portuguese música popular - but in a way that urges the artist ever forward. Released as a double 7" vinyl through Ricardo's own label Hear, Sense and Feel, with covers by São Paulo-based artist Allan Gandhi, the project serves as a prelude to Ricardo's second album as he continues building on these experiments in songwriting and spatial arranging.

‍
"These are Portuguese songs for people who like warm melodies and weird electronics," Ricardo reflects. "I tried my best to write beautiful songs that my grandmother could listen to. My hope for these songs is that they last and people can return to them." Even the emotional depths surprised him: "It's funny, even though these songs are mainly love songs, and they came to me really strong, I often laugh when I sing them because I still can't really understand such sadness coming out of me. Though I am Portuguese and I guess saudade is in our bones." As his song goes, oxalá cante com tempo - hopefully there will be time to sing.

‍

Pedro Ricardo - Oxalá Cante com Tempo (Hear, Sense And Feel)

representing a new work from Pedro Ricardo

‍

For the follow-up to his 2023 debut album Soprem Bons Ventos (Soundway Records), Pedro Ricardo wanted to really write. Where previously scant lyrics would come to him by chance - words improvised to wrap around a beat - this project began among the pages of Portuguese poets like Ary dos Santos, then moved to pen and paper as Ricardo determined to try his hand at songwriting proper. "I've never really connected to poetry before," Ricardo admits. "But I felt the need for it this time."

‍
Musically, Ricardo draws inspiration from the Brazilian universe of singer-songwriting. He temporarily relocated to Rio de Janeiro in early 2025 with the first part of the project already complete and the early writings and melodies of the second taking shape - ears wide open to what the city might teach him. "For the first three months, it was just me and a guitar," Ricardo recalls. "For the next three, it was me on the road overnight in bone-chilling buses, substituting sleep with the same albums on loop - Francis Hime's self-titled, Edu Lobo's Missa Breve and, as always, José Mário Branco's Mudam-se os Tempos Mudam-se as Vontades." These deep lessons in self-expression through song, in composing and arranging, proved transformative.

‍
And so this time, for the first time, Pedro Ricardo truly wrote - not just for voice, but for flutes and strings. He wrote for others to interpret: cellist Carolina Viana, flautists Gil Silva and Edu Moreno, and celebrated fado and música popular portuguesa singers António Zambujo and Ana Margarida Prado. In turn, he reinterpreted their offerings through the signature electronic touches that run through all of Ricardo's productions.

‍
The opening track, "Sem Caminhar Eu Vou," was the first song Ricardo wrote with guitar and lyrics together. "It's about being in two minds in love," he explains. "I was lucky to have one of the best voices of modern Portuguese music on this - António Zambujo. We recorded really quickly in my friend Fred's studio, then later I wrote the flutes which my friend Edu Moreno from São Paulo recorded. Later I decided to give the arrangement a bit more of an electronic direction - even though this wasn't my intention at the start when I was writing the songs, it's just something that always comes back to me naturally during the production process."
‍

"Oxalá Cante com Tempo" speaks to the passage of time itself. "This song is about not having enough time, about coming to the realisation that time will stop," Ricardo says. He finished the lyrics the night before the studio session with Ana Margarida Prado, inspired by a documentary about Chico Buarque's recording process and the spontaneity of musicians reacting to new material in the moment. Originally written on guitar, the arrangement became dramatically expansive - the vinyl includes a drum mix to keep things playful.

‍
The result is a stirring yet instantly familiar collection that confronts head-on the means and motifs alluded to in Ricardo's earlier work - fusing jazz, electronica and Brazilian and Portuguese música popular - but in a way that urges the artist ever forward. Released as a double 7" vinyl through Ricardo's own label Hear, Sense and Feel, with covers by São Paulo-based artist Allan Gandhi, the project serves as a prelude to Ricardo's second album as he continues building on these experiments in songwriting and spatial arranging.

‍
"These are Portuguese songs for people who like warm melodies and weird electronics," Ricardo reflects. "I tried my best to write beautiful songs that my grandmother could listen to. My hope for these songs is that they last and people can return to them." Even the emotional depths surprised him: "It's funny, even though these songs are mainly love songs, and they came to me really strong, I often laugh when I sing them because I still can't really understand such sadness coming out of me. Though I am Portuguese and I guess saudade is in our bones." As his song goes, oxalá cante com tempo - hopefully there will be time to sing.

‍