OTHER ISSUES MMVV: 2015

ELIDA ALMEIDA

ELIDA ALMEIDA’s first album, Ora Doci Ora Margos (Sweet Times Bitter Times) (Lusafrica, 2015), is based entirely on the singer’s early life and the sweet and bitter experiences that shaped her humble existence. ELIDA ALMEIDA wrote the words amb music of most of the songs on this first record and sings with a touching sincerity that will move all those who identify with her story. Even the most detached listener will be enchanted and engaged by her deep, powerful voice, which seems to spring from the innermost sanctum of her heart: animated, still youthfull and steeped in the blues of her troubled childhood. As we listen, we can easily imagine the crystal water of a stream gushing over the arid, rocky landscape of the islandof Santiago, weaving around the obstacles in its path as if overcoming one challenge after another on its way to the sea, like the “moments of joy and pain” that fill the lives and destinies of the people of Cape Verde.