This young fadisto is poised to take a place alongside the greats, and
Outro Sentido may well be not only his best album, but one of the finest fado albums of the last decade.
Zambujo's voice is simultaneously rich and delicate, a dark-hued but finely grained instrument that at times could be mistaken for a contralto, and while he never displays anything other than the deepest respect and affection for the fado tradition, he also demonstrates his unwillingness to be hamstrung by it. The key to a successful fado performance is to communicate deep and intense emotion without bombast, and
Zambujo is already a consummate master in that regard: notice, to pick a particularly ravishing example, the gorgeous subtlety of his singing on "Para Que Quero Eu Olhos." Some of the song's graceful beauty lies in its simple and lovely melody, but much of it is in the almost imperceptible trills and grace notes that
Zambujo distributes throughout the tune. The album's high point, though, is the one that plays the most fast and loose with fado tradition: on "Chamateia" he teams up with the
Angelite Balkan choir for an a capella performance that juxtaposes, rather than attempting to blend, the complex and vinegary sound of a Bulgarian women's choir with the dark and feathery sound of
Zambujo singing in a straight-ahead fado style. The effect is electrifying, and only serves to accentuate the more delicate beauty of the rest of the album.