The recording “O Paraíso” by Brazilian singer, instrumentalist, and composer Lucas Santtana is the #1 album at the Transglobal World Music Chart in February 2023.
O Paraíso, the ninth solo album by Bahian artist Lucas Santtana, encourages us to shift our perspective through ten songs. The album argues that Paradise exists in the present moment, albeit wounded, and it’s up to us to preserve and continuously shape it. A fusion of Brazilian music, jazz, and electronica, O Paraíso features guest appearances by Flavia Coelho and cellist Vincent Segal.
Santtana tackles serious topics with a joyful elegance, composing O Paraíso with a light touch and allowing emotions to guide the flow of the music. The song “Sobre La Memoria,” sung in Spanish, is an example of this. After reading “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells, which depicts a bleak future, Santtana turned tragedy into hope by drawing inspiration from Italian philosopher Emmanuelle Coccia‘s “Metamorphoses.” Coccia writes that all life is a metamorphosis, continuously evolving and never succumbing to passivity.
February 2023 Chart
- Lucas Santtana – O Paraíso – Nø Førmat!
- Gaye Su Akyol – Anadolu Ejderi – Glitterbeat
- Vieux Farka Touré et Khruangbin – Ali – Dead Oceans
- Souad Massi – Sequana – Backingtrack Production
- Taraf Syriana – Taraf Syriana – Lula World Records
- Mostar Sevdah Reunion – Lady Sings the Balkan Blues – Snail Records
- Constantinople, Kiya Tabassian & Ghalia Benali – In the Footsteps of Rumi – Glossa
- Baul Meets Saz – Banjara – Uren Production
- Mahsa Vahdat & Skruk – Braids of Innocence – Kirkelig Kulturverksted
- Various Artists – Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia – Smithsonian Folkways Recording
- Sona Jobarteh – Badinyaa Kumoo – African Guild
- Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Dost 2 – Les Disques Bongo Joe
- Aziz Sahmaoui & Eric Longsworth – Il fera beau demain matin jusqu’à midi – Passé Minuit En Accords
- Angeline Morrison – The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience – Topic
- Various Artists – Chłopi: Wesele Boryny – Muzyka Zakorzeniona
- Okra Playground – Itku – Nordic Notes
- Wesli – Tradisyon – Cumbancha
- Meral Polat Trio – Ez Kî Me – Meral Polat / AudioMaze
- Payadora Tango Ensemble – Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango – Six Degrees
- Dimitris Mystakidis – Morso – Fishbowl Music Tank
More about the Transglobal World Music Chart
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central